Not So Alone Anymore

Chapter 3 ~ Discussion

Toothless slunk back into the woods, vaguely aware of Umbra presence. She was following him, he knew that. He wanted to turn around and growl at her, to tell her he didn't need her pity, but he just couldn't find it in himself. Hiccup, Valka, Cloudjumper, himself… They had all spent years searching for other night furies. Now that there was another one following him, all he wanted was for the others to see her, to know that he wasn't the only one.

"What happened to your tail?" Umbra asked. He looked at her, only now noticing that she was walking next to him, electric blue eyes staring right into his green ones. He found himself lost in her gaze for a moment, before tearing his gaze away and looking the other direction.

"I don't want to talk about it." He growled. He heard her croon slightly in response. They continued to walk for a while in silence.

"Are you alone here?" He heard her ask quietly. He stopped, looking down with his eyes half closed. He heard her sit down next to him. No doubt she was staring at him with those eyes of hers. He sighed, and continued to walk, hoping his silent response would deter her from asking anything else. It seemed as though it did. She did not ask any more questions the whole way back to the cove.

He picked his way down the rocky wall, jumping down some parts and sliding down others. Umbra had already glided down to the ground, waiting for him. He jumped down from a rock, landing next to her silently. He stood still for a moment before quietly walking to a corner of the cover and flopping on the ground.

He was hardly paying attention as Umbra lay next to him. She was quiet, and that was all he cared about. He tried his best to ignore her presence, trying not to think about her mesmerizing gaze. He knew she was staring at him. Again. He sighed, before silently whispering one word.

"Yes." The answer came so quietly that it surprised him. Since when had he become so quiet, so lonely? Toothless briefly thought back to a time when he was happy and spent his free time playing with Stormfly and the others. He listened for a response, almost believing that he had spoken too quietly for her to hear. He was proven wrong when he spotted her open her mouth, then shut it and looked away. She doesn't know what to say. He thought. He couldn't identify the emotion he felt with her reaction. It was foreign yet so familiar at the same time. Perhaps it is amusement. He wondered. Yes. I think that's it. Her reaction had left him feeling slightly amused.

"What about you?" The question sprang out of his mouth unbidden, but still silent. He squeezed his eyes shut and looked away. Idiot. He thought. It isn't like me to be so nosy. At least, not anymore. He opened his eyes and looked at the ground. You used to be. A voice whispered in his mind. He shuddered. No, not this again. He thought. He didn't want to remember. Not now, not ever.

"Yes." Toothless looked back over. In the few hours they had been together, she had never spoken so quietly. She almost sounded like… Like me. He thought sadly.

"I always thought that there were no other night furies left outside of my pack." She said, completely surprising him. She looked at him, straight in the eye, with bright blue eyes. She continued, "But now there's you! So there has to be others somewhere! What about your pack? Where are they?" She stared at him intently.

Toothless sighed. She doesn't understand. He thought. No one does. He looked away. He wanted to cry. He shook with a silent sob, eyes squeezed tightly shut, tears threatening to spill out of them. In the past, he might have been happy to hear about a pack of night furies. In the past, when he had Hiccup on his back and the others at his side.

Umbra tilted her head, somewhat surprised with his reaction. He almost seemed sad to hear that there were other night furies. Maybe something happened to his pack. She thought. Whatever the reason was, she had obviously said the wrong thing.

"Hey…" She whispered. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so sudden." She looked away for a moment. Solus was silent for a few long moments before answering.

"It's fine." He growled, standing up. "You wouldn't understand anyway." He didn't even spare her a glance as he walked away.

She sat there, stunned, wondering what caused such a rapid turn in behavior. Something must have happened here. She thought. She watched as he stalked to the other side of the cove, as far away as possible from her, and stayed in a dark corner.

Several hours had passed since she first came to the cove with Solus. She had dozed off, waking up again when it was nearly midnight. She looked around, the stars and moon dully illuminating the area around her. She looked to the spot that she had seen Solus crawl into and could hardly make out the silhouette of a curled up night fury.

She let out a long sigh, memories of their earlier conversation returning. Why did he suddenly change? He looked as though he was finally going to open up a little, but… She thought. What had changed? All she knew was that she had mentioned his pack… That's it! She thought, head jerking upwards. Something must have happened to them. Something bad that left him all alone in the world.

She looked back over at the dragon. She couldn't tell if he was asleep or just curled into a ball pretending to be asleep. Either way, he was a pretty sad sight. Pity for him rose up in her chest. He couldn't fly and was all alone. Of course he was depressed. How can I help him? I can't make his tailfin grow back, and he isn't very accepting of my company. She racked her brain for an answer which kept on slipping away. She let out a low growl in frustration. She would find a way to help him.

And nothing would get in her way.