HTLANF AU: How to Raise Your Night Furies

Part 3 ~ Chapter 16

It was a rather calm day for the Isle of Berk, which was a rare occurrence in and of itself. With how little was going on, Stoick actually had the time to relax with his son and grandkids and spend some quality family time with them.

The Haddocks were currently gathered in their living room, just enjoying their time together. Stoick was relaxing in his chair by the hearth, Hiccup was on the floor with Kala watching over her as she played with her wolf plush, and Toothless was laying atop the table lazily in his dragon form as he watched his sister play.

Hiccup glanced at his son and noticed the longing look in his eyes, and a hint of sadness hidden behind that longing as well. His gaze went to his daughter's beloved plush and bounced between the plush and Toothless a few times.

Then it clicked.

Toothless was jealous that Kala had a toy. But Hiccup had a feeling there was more to it than that.

He had a hunch that something was eating away at the eight-year-old for quite some time now, but he wasn't sure what exactly that was. That is, until he had noticed that Toothless had gathered all of the scales that Luna had left behind in the cove before she disappeared for good during the Green Death battle.

Hiccup had always wondered why the hatchling hadn't asked him as to why she had never come back, assuming that Astrid or Stoick had already had that conversation with him when Hiccup was in his coma. But even so, it was odd to him that Toothless hadn't even mentioned the Light Fury in question after all this time.

So, with his mind set he turned his attention to his own father as he stood.

"Could you watch them for me really quick Dad? I've gotta go do something." Hiccup asked, hopeful that his plans weren't obvious in his features.

Stoick nodded with a small smile. "'Course I will son. I'd be more than happy to look over my grandkids."

Hiccup smiled and nodded as he dashed out of the hut. "Thanks Dad!"

Kala paused in her playing and tilted her head to the side curiously as she watched her father dash out of the hut, wondering why he was in such a rush. But she then shrugged and went back to playing with her plush, knowing that he would be back soon.

Toothless' eyes narrowed slightly in skepticism as he watched Hiccup rush out the door.

'What is Dad up to..?'

~~~HTRYNF~~~

Later that same day, Toothless hid away in the cove to get away from the rest of the tribe.

He was currently in human form doodling in the dirt with a stick, which didn't happen that often. The boy wasn't that great of an artist yet, but with Hiccup as his father he had a feeling he would get better as time went on.

His attention was torn away from the doodles as he heard someone enter the cove, noticing that it was his dad, who seemed to have something hidden within a satchel he had brought with him.

"There you are bud. Been looking for you." Hiccup said as he made his way over to his eldest hatchling, claiming a spot on the ground beside him. "Whatcha drawing?"

Toothless shrugged as he looked back at his doodles. They weren't of anything in particular, just poorly drawn dragons and humans interacting with one another.

"Just whatever comes to mind I guess.." Toothless muttered as he began to drag his stick through the dirt again. "Why were you looking for me?"

"Well I've noticed that something's been bothering you lately and I wanted to see if you were feeling up to talking about it." Hiccup said, which got Toothless to look at him again. "That is if you want to. I won't force you to talk about it, bud."

Toothless looked away again considering his options. He could either stay quiet, or he could tell his father about his worries and thoughts. The latter seemed like the best bet the more he weighed his options.

"It's just...it's just been hard without Miss Luna..." Toothless admitted as he looked at his dad again. "She never even came to say goodbye...who does that to a hatchling..? Especially one that you had been taking care of for years... It just doesn't make sense..."

Hiccup gave him a sympathetic look and pulled him into a hug. "Why haven't you talked to me about this, Toothless..?"

Toothless gripped onto the back of Hiccup's vest, burying his face into the fur as he answered. "Because I didn't want to burden you...you're always so focused on taking care of both me and Kala on top of doing things around the village or with Aunt Astrid and the other riders...so I just kept it to myself..."

"Toothless...you don't have to hold things in like that...you know you can always come to me, don't you..? I will always always make time to listen to you...no matter what, I promise..." Hiccup promised as he rubbed soothing circles in Toothless' back.

This made the hatchling tear up as he gripped his father tighter, burying himself even further into Hiccup's warmth to try and prevent himself from crying, which wasn't working as well as he hoped it would as a few tears slipped from his toxic green eyes.

They stayed like that for a while, Hiccup rubbing soothing circles on Toothless' back in comfortable silence. After a few more minutes of comfort, Toothless pulled away and rubbed at his eyes to get rid of any remaining tears.

"Feeling better now?" Hiccup asked with a soft smile and earned a nod as his answer.

"Yeah..for the most part anyway.." Toothless said as he sniffled slightly.

"Well I think there's something that'll make it even better. Close your eyes." Hiccup said as he began to open the satchel he brought along with him.

Toothless raised a brow in confusion but nodded and did as told. "Now what..?"

"Hold your hands out." Hiccup instructed as he pulled out a plushie of Luna from the satchel.

Toothless held out his hands like he was told and Hiccup placed the plush into his son's awaiting hands.

"Okay, you can open your eyes now." Hiccup said with an excited air to his voice, a matching smile on his lips.

Toothless slowly opened his eyes and looked at what was resting in his palms and his eyes widened in shock as tears welled up in them again.

"I-is this..?" He asked, struggling to even speak as he looked over the plushie.

It was the same size as Kala's wolf, but it was made with soft white fur that was cut super short to make it look as though it was a dragon's hide. Luna's scales were sown into the fur in all the right places, having been filed down to be the right size for the plush. The eyes were sown in with thread that was dyed by Stormfly's blue scales and the maw was sown in with a gray thread to make it noticeable but not stand out. The wings and tail were sown to the body with such care and structure to them that you couldn't even tell they were ever separate from the body and they moved with so much ease, it was as though they were actual wings and an actual tail. The tailfins moved easily like the wings, too.

It was a perfect replica of Luna.

"I saw how you were looking at Kala's plush earlier and figured you deserved one too. And since you've been missing Luna so much, I decided it would be best to make her for you. That way you always have her with you." Hiccup explained as he watched Toothless examine every little detail of his new toy. "I know you're upset that she left you without even saying goodbye, and trust me I'm pretty upset about it too. But I'm sure she had her reasons, and I know that you'll be able to see her again someday."

Tears slipped from Toothless' eyes again as he hugged the plush close and smiled at his dad. "Thank you Dad.."

Hiccup smiled back and nodded. "Of course Toothless. You deserve to have toys just as much as your sister does. Don't ever hesitate to ask me for one, okay?"

Toothless nodded and smiled just a bit wider. "Okay."

~~~HTRYNF~~~