Lost and Found: Family

A New Foot

Clang!

"Ugh! This is going to take forever!" Hiccup exclaimed in frustration. He picked up the metal bucket he dropped. Toothless cooed worriedly. "I'm fine bud, just a bit frustrated."

After Hiccup had told his mother about Toothless, how they met, and why they left, she led them to the kitchen and showed them an empty corner where Hiccup could build a forge and work station. He needed the forge the most so he could make a metal leg, but without being able to properly walk, this task was extremely difficult.

So far, he had made a makeshift, rickety desk out of wood that would probably fall down soon, and had hired some adolescent Gronkles to make a pit in the stone floor for his fire.

"Do you need some help?" Valka walked over to Hiccup.

"No, you don't have to do that for me," Hiccup told her. Toothless huffed.

"You're all knowing dragon thinks otherwise," she said as she opened a basked and pulled out some wood. "You're gonna have to learn Dragonese soon, Hanna doesn't know Norse."

Hiccup looked up. "Really? All you guys speak is Dragonese?"

Valka nodded as she put the wood in the pit. Toothless shot a blast at it to light it.

"Thanks, bud," Hiccup rubbed Toothless' nose. "Mom, could you fill this bucket with water?" He handed her the bucket he had dropped.

"Sure. Meanwhile, I want you to repeat after me. Hello, Toothless." she spoke the last bit in a series of growls and high pitched coos.

"Brain, Toothfunk," Hiccup tried to mimic her. Toothless snorted and Valka let out a warm laugh. "What? What did I say?"

"Brain, Toothfunk."

Toothless laughed.

"But that's okay, it was your first time. Try again. Hello, Toothless." Valka demonstrated again as she filled the bucket at a spring in the wall.

"Hark, Toothness," Hiccup tried again.

"Close! That time you almost got Toothless' name! Try again," Valka handed Hiccup the bucket.

"Hello, Toothless," Hiccup said.

This time there was a response, "Hello, Hiccup!"

"Toothless! I understood you!"

"That last part was Norse," Valka pointed out. "But good job, you learn fast.  you'll be conversing with us before long!"

"Wow," Hiccup breathed, "Hello, Toothless. Hellon. Toothlass. Halio -"

"Okay, that's enough," Toothless interrupted.

"I'm going to get your metal, I'll be right back," Valka said before she disappeared through a crack in the wall.

"My metal?" Hiccup was confused. How did Valka have metal for him?

Just then, she returned with a green Gronkle waddling behind her. "This is Blade. His diet consists of the ingredients for Gronkle Iron," she explained.

"Gronkle Iron?"

"Yeah, it's a type of metal that's strong, light, never smudges or dents, and is very easy to work with," she said as she patted Blade's side. The Gronkle spewed bright orange lava into an empty bucket. "There you go," she handed Hiccup the bucket. "If you need more just tap his sides. Oh, and here's a pair of tongs you can use." Valka handed him the tool.

"Thanks!" Hiccup said, taking the bucket.

"No problem," Valka replied before she left the room. Hiccup got to work. Before long, he had formed the beginnings of an idea. He created a metal leg and a new stirrup for Toothless' saddle. The leg would click into the stirrup and he would be able to control Toothless' tail fin much easier.

As the updates had cooled, Hiccup fixed the securing strap on Toothless' saddle. Hours after the idea formed in his head, and after many tries to get used to Gronkle Iron, they were done cooling.  He applied his new leg and replaced the current stirrup on the saddle. His mom was right. The Gronkle Iron was flawless. Hiccup made a mental note to make new parts for all of Toothless' rigs out of Gronkle Iron.

Hiccup took a couple of walks around the room to test out his new leg. It was painful and would take lots of getting used to, but it worked, for now at least.

"Okay, bud, you wanna test this out?" Hiccup asked the Night Fury. Toothless bounded around the room, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. "I'll take that as a yes! Come on." Hiccup walked down the tunnel that led to the sanctuary. He should probably tell his mom that he was going out, but where was she?

"Mom?" he called out.

"I'm over here, Hiccup!" he heard from one of the many tunnels in the wall. He followed her voice to a stone room that he assumed was her bedroom. There was a makeshift wooden bed in one corner, a bookshelf, and some wooden furniture. His mother was sitting in a chair, reading a book. "What do you need?"

"I made some adjustments to Toothless' saddle so I can work the tail fin with my new leg. Can we go test them out?"

"Sure thing, just don't go too far," Valka answered.

"C'mon, bud!" Hiccup exclaimed as he dashed out of the room. Toothless bounded happily behind him.

They reached the sanctuary in no time. Hiccup paused at the edge of the cliff to take it all in. The sight was breath taking. The Bewilderbeast raised his head and Hiccup and Toothless both bowed.

"Helso," Hiccup greeted the king in his best Dragonese.

The king chuckled and returned the greeting in a low grumble, "Hello."

"Okay, you ready, Toothless?" Hiccup asked his dragon. Toothless warbled in response. "Okay. Here goes nothing." Hiccup got atop Toothless and clicked his new leg into the stirrup. He wiggled it around to make sure it was secure and then checked all of the tail positions. They all clicked into place cleaner than the old stirrup did. "Alright, bud. Let's go!"

Toothless leaped into the air. Together, they soared between dragons of all shapes and sizes. Even breeds Hiccup had never seen before. Then, they split from the pack and raced towards an opening in the ice walls. They flew out into the open air.

Hiccup clicked his foot in the stirrup multiple times before he found the more streamlined tail position.  As a result, they shot forwards.

"Yeah, baby!" he cried as they shot around spikes of ice. Toothless swooped low over the island and then sped out to the ocean. They took a right angle upwards and Toothless pumped his wings faster as they gained height. When they reached the clouds, Hiccup lifted both hands up to touch them, just before Toothless flipped right back over and dove. They split through the air at what Hiccup was sure was record breaking speed.

When they were just about to dive headfirst into the ocean, Toothless flipped and Hiccup felt his hair skim the water. They came out of the flip only five feet above the water, still speeding faster. They created a wake in the water as they flew towards the sanctuary. When they were almost to the base of the island, Hiccup pulled Toothless up and they lost speed. They soared above the tips of the ice spikes just enjoying the wind.

"Well, I think it works," Hiccup told Toothless. The Night Fury let out a roar of agreement.