Lightning Flower •HTTYD•

03

Flying.

It made the dragon shifter feel free even when he knew he wasn't. There were people after him. No matter where he tried to blend in, they always found him.

Soaring through the sky, above the clouds, the young shifter catches a sent — a familiar one. Flying faster, he discovers Toothless with his rider and the other people from the academy. Keeping his distance, he begins to follow them.

But soon, disaster would strike. Hunter's with Riker was following the young shifter. Once the shifter was out of the clouds, he was an easy target. Riker grabs one of his dragon root arrows and aims it right at the smaller dragons' exposed abdomen. Firing it, the arrow flies in through the sky and hits its intended target.

Before the shifter could act, he could feel himself already starting to shift. He began to free fall; his body begins to revert to his human half. His body wanted to give in to the roots affect, but being as stubborn as he was, he continued to fight it. Falling was something that scared him in his human form, and here he was falling towards the ocean where he'd possibly die from drowning.

Before he could let out a scream or a night fury call, his naked body slammed into the sea. The shifter was defenseless in the water. He tries to get to the surface, but the dragon root arrow had already began to slow down his motor skills. He knew he was seconds away from drowning. And that just terrified him.

Toothless didn't even need a word from Hiccup. He was already diving after the boy. Once in the water, Hiccup grabs him and pulls him on to Toothless before the dragon gets to the surface. Getting into the air, the berkians begin to fly out of their line of fire. Above the clouds, Hiccup leans his head to the boy's chest and listens for breathing, "Guys, he's not breathing."

Hitting the boy's chest a few times, the shifter begins to cough up water. His eyes flicker a little before he falls complete unconscious. "We will never stop hunting that abomination!" Riker's shouting made the uncomfortable shifter move closer to the person holding on to him.

Hiccup and the rest of the dragon riders continue to fly towards the edge, and when they get to their makeshift home, he and Astrid wrap the boy in a blanket and put him in Hiccups bed.

The riders gather in their main hut, and Fishlegs was the first to speak, "Okay, so, that all just happened."

"The dragon turned into a man!" Tuffnut exclaims excitedly to the group, "It was amazing!"

Hiccup was shockingly quieter than the rest of the group, who were all talking about the dragon that shifted into a person. "Hiccup, what do you think about the dragon shifter?"

"This is uncharted territory, for all of us. But I do know one thing, Riker or Viggo can't get their hands on him." Hiccup tells the gang with a stern look on his face. They'd seen that look before. It was one of determination. They'd come to know this look very well.

After a small discussion, they decided, if the dragon shifter wants to, he could stay on the island with them. They were going to do their best to protect him. If he did choose to stay, they'd make the proper arrangements.

The dragon shifter moved in his sleep, moving closer to the dragon he was propped up against, which happened to be Toothless. His eyes flicker open, and they appear fully dark blue with black slits before they change back to their usual icy blue. Sitting up, he looks around to find he's in a different place. Seeing Toothless made him feel somewhat safer.

Getting up off the dragon, he slowly starts to look around the room. There were papers scattered around the room. Wrapping the blanket tighter around himself, he goes to take a step only to fall flat on his face. He'd almost forgot what it felt like to walk with two legs instead of four. A pair of feet come running up the stairs and he moves away from the bed and closer to Toothless.

When his eyes rest upon the two dragon riders that have come up the stairs. He recognized one as the gronkles rider and monstrous nightmares rider. He pulls himself closer to Toothless and tries to hide. "Snotlout, I think we should go get Hiccup."

"In a minute Fishlegs, I wanna see something first." The arrogant Viking in front of him says as he approaches the dragon shifter.

The dragon boy lets out a high pitched yelping noise causing Toothless to get up from his position and wrap himself around the boy. Toothless begins to growl, warning Snotlout not to come any closer. "Okay, lets go get Hiccup."

The two Vikings leave the room and the dragon shifter pats Toothless's head, nuzzling himself closer to the dragon. "Thank you."

Toothless begins to purr and a small smile forms on his face. The sound of footsteps are heard coming up the stairs and Toothless's purring turns into a growl as he protectively wraps his wing around the boy. When Toothless sees the person who came up the stairs he stops growling but keeps his wing around the boy. "Hey Toothless, thanks for watching over him."

Hiccup approaches the dragon shifter slowly and when he gets close enough Toothless removes his wing. "It's okay. You don't have to be afraid. No one's going to hurt you."

Extended his hand to the boy, the shifter hesitantly grabs the dragon trainers hand and gets to his feet. Hiccup sets him down in his bed and says as he moves to his spare clothes, "Here these might fit."

The dragon shifter grabs the spare clothes from Hiccup and starts to remove the blanket causing the young dragon trainer to turn around, his face blushing red in the process. Once the shifters dresses, Hiccup turns back around. "Huh those fit pretty well."

"Come on you must be hungry." Slowly nodding the shifter uses Toothless to help him keep his balance. Hiccup goes first down the stairs while the boy just watches. Stairs looked terrifying, they were small and steep. Letting out a shaky breath, he takes the steps one at a time until he gets the hang of it. Picking up his speed he trips on the third step, sending him into wall in front of him.

Rubbing his head, he looks back at the stairs and lets out a massive growl. A small chuckle escapes Hiccup's lips at the boy's reaction. The dragon shifter gets to his feet and begins to follow Hiccup towards the door, unaware of what waited for him on the other side.

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