When I Was Seven Years Old

Eight

Toothless was woken up by sunlight that filtered throughout the cave. He yawned and as tempted as he was to sleep the day away, he had Hiccup to care for.

The dragon opened up his wings and carefully slid the human hatchling off of the wing that was tucked underneath him and rolled over and pushed himself up. Toothless stretched out his stiff limbs and again yawned, much like either a feline and a canine combined. He looked back at his boy and nudged him awake. They had a long flight ahead of them, and he rather reach his home with sunlight left.

Hiccup groaned and swatted at Toothless, making the dragon huff and push him, making Hiccup open his eyes and look over at the dragon with annoyance. "I was having a good dream, Toothy. I don't have those very often..." he complained but slowly got to his feet anyways.

Feeling quite thirst and the need to go to the bathroom, Hiccup exited the cave and headed over to the lake, though stopped when he caught sight of something that he definitely wasn't expecting. It was a rucksack that was filled with items from his village.

Curious, the child wondered over to the rucksack and checked out its contents. Inside was a loaf of bread, some apples, and a chicken leg that needed to be cooked. He pulled them out and set the food aside and looked into the rucksack to see if there was anything else hidden in the large basket after tipping it over, and found a blanket and clothing. The clothes were new and clean and had no patches, surprising Hiccup. He pulled them out to check them out. The shirt was a long sleeved and red, the boys second favorite color, and the pants were brown. There were also a new pair of boots that looked like they would fit Hiccup better than his current ones, just like the other articles of clothing.

'Dad must have got all of this for me...' Hiccup thought as he put the food and blanket back in, though kept the clothes out. He turned around and nearly screamed in fright when he was greeted with a looming Toothless. "You scared me! How did I not hear you?" Hiccup exclaimed and shook his head. "I'm gonna go get changed. Don't go into the cave, okay?! Not even my daddy has seen me without clothes..." he frowned though after referring Stoick as dad after he gave it some thought.

'Is he still my daddy? Or is he just my chief now?' Hiccup pondered as he went to the cave to get changed into his new clothes.

When he was fully dressed and emerged from the cave, Hiccup furrowed his brows and quickly headed over to the rucksack. Toothless had pulled the food out and was sniffing the contents, making Hiccup upset. "Hey! That's my food from my... Stoick! Get out of there!" Hiccup exclaimed and tried to push Toothless away, though didn't get very far.

Toothless gently pushed Hiccup aside as he continued to inspect the food "I'm not going to eat your food, hatchling. I'm just making sure it's safe and not poisonous or dangerous like eels...." Toothless said. When he saw the loaf of bread, he did though take a little bite out of it to make sure it was safe, for unlike the other food, it was created by the humans.

He nearly spat it out at how tough and tasteless it was, but it wasn't poisonous or dangerous, so that was good.

Hiccup sighed and snatched the food away "this is my food. You can eat fishies and other animals. But not this stuff, okay?" He said and put the food back, though kept the bread out and began munching on it. He tore it in half before he got very far and handed Toothless the half he had taken a bite out of.

"You can have this half, okay?" Hiccup said as he put it down and returned to his breakfast.

When Hiccup wasn't looking, Toothless swiped the loaf into the lake and went over and sat beside Hiccup "we will practice one more time today before heading to my home, okay?" Hiccup looked confused and slightly hurt, confusing Toothless "but I thought I was good enough to fly... you said I did amazing and you were proud!"

Ah, it seemed that Hiccup had concluded, or thought at least, that Toothless didn't mean what he said and had lied. The dragon cooed and nuzzled his boy and gave him a small lick on the cheek "and I meant it. You did so well yesterday, Hiccup. But I just want to make sure you will be safe during our trip, alright?" Hiccup relaxed and nodded at Toothless while using his sleeve to wipe off the dragon slobber "okay... when do we leave?"

Toothless nuzzled Hiccup again before answering "once you are finished eating." He answered and for up to go take a drink and catch some fish for his own breakfast.

When Hiccup finished his half, he went over to some bushes to do his business, though blushed when he saw Toothless follow him. "C-could you go somewhere else? I gotta go potty..." Toothless nodded and left Hiccup to do his thing.

When Hiccup finished, he went back to the lake and washed his hands. He brushed his wet hands on his best to dry them off then went over to Toothless who decided to sunbathe as he waited for the boy.

"I'm ready now! But could we bring the rucksack with us?" Th child asked "oh, and you can have the chicken leg. It'll take too long to cook and I just wanna fly already! The bread filled me up just fine, and if I get hungry, I still have apples left!"

Toothless nuzzled the boy "alright. I can carry you and the rucksack. But first, let's practice, and then we can pack up and leave, alright?" Hiccup eagerly nodded and quickly climbed onto the dragons back when he lowered himself down for Hiccup to get on. "I'm ready!"

The pair didn't practice for long, and soon Toothless swooped down and grabbed the rucksack and began the journey back home. Hiccup didn't even look back.

As they soared through the sky, Hiccup eventually pulled his legs up and laid down on Toothless's back and fell asleep after a few hours of flying.

The boy awoke when Toothless began to descend as he neared his home. Hiccup yawned and sat up straight and rubbed his eyes "are we there yet?" He asked as he looked around. From his view, he could see a village, and a bit far away was a secluded house that reminded him of a scary villager named Mildew.

"Indeed we are. Now hold on tight!" Toothless warned as he flew a bit steeper.

Hiccup was confused when they landed outside the secluded house. "Why are we here, Toothy? This is a house, not a cave or anything like where we have been" Hiccup asked and hesitantly followed Toothless inside, abandoning his full rucksack.

When in the small hut, Hiccup took in his new surroundings. The house was small and quite empty, aside from a small table and a chair and some stairs that must lead to a bedroom or something of the sort, the house was bare of any decorations or anything that made it feel like a proper home.

"Toothless, what are we doing here?" The seven year old asked again as Toothless hadn't answered him the first time.

When Hiccup turned around, he felt his heart stop and he stepped back and nearly tripped over his feet. Behind him stood a rather tall and lean yet muscular man with sharp features, with black hair.

"Who-who are you and what did you do to Toothy?!"

••To be continued...••

Words: 1317
Date: December 24, 2019
Status: ongoing and unedited
Comment: Merry Christmas Eve!!