King of Shadows HIATUS

Chapter 8

Toothless heard a faint whisper, so quiet that he almost missed it over the rain and thunder. But when he heard it, he leaped in front of Hiccup growling at the two humans he heard. They were as young as Hiccup, Toothless observed, but still stronger than Hiccup,  this had the night fury snarling, getting ready to breathe fire on the two teens when Hiccup spotted the little stalkers. 

"NO, TOOTHLESS NO!" Hiccup yelled trying to stand in front of Toothless as he was building fire in his throat but was pushed back by the dragon's tail. Hiccup turned to the teens, "Get out of here!" he yelled, not because he thinks Toothless is a threat, but because he knows Toothless will do anything to keep him safe. 

Hiccups yell shocked the teens out of their stupor and they frantically scrambled to gain control over their legs to run, but the rain made the mud slippery and they tumbled down into the cove. Thankfully, they fell on the lake and did not get hurt, but they were in the den of a dragon and the two were not sure if that was any better. 

When they climbed out he lake their hearts fell to their stomachs as they heard the dragons roar. 

They closed their eyes and expected pain but they did not feel it, because Hiccup was standing in front of them. His arms was spread and his stance wide as he yelled at the dragon to listen to him and stop. 

They opened their eyes as it stalked closer, fire in its throat. Astrid, gathering her bearings, reached behind her to get her axe but noticed that it was no longer strapped to her, it is in the bottom of the lake with Fishlegs dagger. 

Fishlegs started hyperventilating, "we're gonna die" being muttered over and over under his breath. Astrid, while not outwardly panicking, was a also thinking the same. They haven't even had dragon training, they were 13 for the gods' sake! its too soon to die. 

They waited with baited breath as Hiccup said some things they were to scared to hear, they watch the dragon swallow its fire and stop growling. 

Fishlegs' knees buckled and Astrid yelled "What the fuc-?!"

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Astrid, Hiccup and Toothless stared at each other as they waited for Fishlegs to wake up. Well Astrid and Toothless stared at each other, Hiccup was looking a wall. 

They were in a cave in the far side of the cove with a bonfire and questions ready to tumble out both their mouths. Toothless calmed down but still doesn't trust the strangers, after all, Hiccup may say that he knew them all his life but his human was too trusting and too puny. No one said a word until Astrid let out an annoyed grunt "So are you just gonna say nothing?" she said, crossing her arms to try to appear cool and nonchalant but only appearing defensive. 

Toothless let out another snarl from his place behind Hiccup, like a shadow. Hiccup leaned back to try to signal to Toothless to stop acting like that, but the signal wasn't received. 

After the dragon had stopped stalking forward to the teens, Hiccup finally tried to explain to Astrid (given that Fishlegs was on the floor) that Toothless was no threat, which of course lead to Astrid freaking out, the whole 'it don't bite, YES IT DO!' shtick. Cue a few hours in the rain trying to get Astrid to calm down and getting bruise for his troubles (which led to more hostility from Toothless). When Astrid calmed as well as she could in this situation, Hiccup convinced her to go to the cave so they can start a fire, which led to more yelling about 'not going into a wild animal's cave because that's fucking stupid, Hiccup!' but they eventually made it to the cave. 

Hiccup turn to Astrid when he heard her speak "umm, what do you want me to say?" he said, like he didn't have his back turned to a dragon. "explain why there is a goddam Night Fury, the most powerful dragon, in this cave with us!" Astrid yelled, her voice echoing in the cave. The yelling woke up Fishlegs who saw the Night fury and screamed. 

The volume in this cave is astronomical. 

When they finally got Fishlegs quiet, via Astrid's slap, Hiccup started trying to explain, but leaving out the mark and lying "Um, well you see, uh, I shot him down, yes I shot him down, and when I went to find him I, uhhhh, let him go? because I felt bad and we became friends" he said, then winced when he saw the incredulousness in his guests' faces. 

"you shot him down? why didn't you tell anyone??" Astrid said in disbelief, "um, who would believe me?" Hiccup responded, knowing that even if the lie was real and he tried to tell other people no one would believe him. Toothless let out a croon and nudged Hiccup's head. 

A flash of remorse went across Astrid's face at that, knowing it was true, "and you became friends?" Fishlegs said, still trembling both from the cold and the dragon but cannot help being curious over the obviously friendly way Hiccup and Toothless interacts. 

"Yes, He's nice once you've gotten his trust" Hiccup said, smiling fondly at up at Toothless who rolled his eyes as being described as nice, like he was a little cat or a pony. "fascinating, its like he understands us" FIshlegs whispered, amazed as he always was when gaining new knowledge, "He does" Hiccup confirmed, smiling at the wonder in Fishlegs face, he missed learning new things with Fishlegs, in this island he was one of the only people he could geek out with. His smile fell, remembering that they hadn't spoken in a few years. 

Toothless noticed his change of mood and started to lick him, laughs tumbled out of his mouth uncontrollably. The sight had Astrid and Fishlegs relaxing more and even laughing along. 

Later, they would talk, explain why they distanced themselves from Hiccup, but right now, they need to get warm and cozy because the rain isn't stopping anytime soon.