Another Nightmare Book 3: Facing Nightmares

Chapter 4

Sorry for being a day late. Seems email with proofread version hadn't come through or something stupid like that. Here's your regular update for February, a little shorter chapter this time but hopefully still a pleasant read.

I hope those of you have seen the new movie have enjoyed it but please, no spoilerly discussion in comments here.

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Toothless' head hurt like a pair of Gronckles were banging his brain with their tails. His tail, the missing one, hurt like a fresh cut and... He could only feel himself in his head. He was alone, by himself again.

He didn't like that.

The only thing in Toothless' body that was working normally were his ears. They bounced, hearing a quiet whimper. Even in his half-conscious, pained state, he would always recognize Hiccup's voice. The sound alone made Toothless feel like he was choking. He pushed against the ground with shaky legs, despite still not seeing clearly. His head fell back to the ground. He pushed up again. Someone stood in front of him. Toothless growled, swinging his head at the little thing.

He got a louder growl back and his fuzzy vision was filled with red. Not the blood red of rage, but something with a more orange tint.

"Stay back Night Fury. Your human is right here." The red figure pointed to Toothless' side.

Just turning around made Toothless dizzier. The earlier whimpers changed to choking sounds and splatter sounds as something hit the ground. The stink of Hiccup's previous meal spread in the cave. Toothless blinked until he could see properly again. Fishlegs was holding a shivering Hiccup partially up from lying position as Hiccup emptied his stomach on the cold stone. Toothless stepped closer. Surely this was enough suffering for them. Fishlegs glanced back and raised his hand in front of Toothless. This time it wasn't a greeting. A low grumble emanated from Toothless' throat. Fishlegs' eyes widened.

"You should try to remain calm." Meatlug came to hover next to Toothless. "We know this is hard for you, both of you, but you needed to do this. Threatening Fishlegs won't help either of you.'

"She's..." Hiccup started out loud but paused for a long moment. He couched and spat out more of the disgusting stuff. Only then he turned in Fishlegs' grasp. Their eyes met. Hiccup's lips slowly turned up. Toothless finally felt his mind, but the tendril of thought was weak and evaded his attempts to grab it.

'She is right,' Hiccup said with his thoughts this time. Unusually weak, quiet thoughts. "Fishlegs, you are in charge. How much longer?"

"Umm, maybe this is enough for the first time if you do this every day. That didn't seem to be too much when we were back on Berk. Hiccup, are you listening?"

He wasn't. By the time Fishlegs got to "time", tendrils of Hiccup's thoughts had slammed against Toothless' mind and they began melding together. Hiccup reached out with his hand. Fishlegs pulled his back when Hiccup's arm brushed against it. Toothless met him. In seconds, Toothless' vision clarified completely and the pain in his head disappeared. He didn't even care about that, feeling another presence with him. He wasn't alone in his head anymore. Through the bond, he felt the pain that still lingered on Hiccup's leg and shared it.

Hiccup sighed audibly, his breathing getting a bit calmer. His eyes were closed, and he was still hanging on Fishlegs' arms. His hand left Toothless' snout as Hiccup pushed himself up to a sitting position. Toothless lowered his head on Hiccup's lap and thin arms encased it in their embrace. They closed their eyes and stayed like that for an unknown length of time, but at least the world was a bit warmer again. Eventually, Hiccup let go and raised his head. Toothless took the opportunity to pull his tongue across Hiccup's entire face, reinforcing the scents that signalled their bond to those with good enough noses to smell it, along with a promise of death if they harmed Hiccup. Now though, Toothless himself caught extra scents. One of the female hatchlings, Gerd, stood right next to Hiccup, her leg in front of Toothless' eyes. She was staring at them.