Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It started out as friendly competition. Or, Hiccup amended wryly, as friendly of a competition it could be when he started sparring with Snotlout. He may not be the first to admit it (or the second, or the third, or maybe even the fourth), but despite all of Snotlout’s claims of being the ‘most epic Viking in the history of Vikings’, he actually was quite good at hand-to-hand combat and sparring, especially with his axe. There was a reason he was always one of the best in dragon training as kids, second only to Astrid. 

Now Hiccup knew he had been improving to be pretty good himself. After all, sparring with Astrid day in and day out had paid off tremendously, as did the advantages his custom weaponry always seemed to give him. Inferno made training a lot more fun, and it certainly didn’t hurt that Astrid always found some way to reward him after a productive session. If those rewards involved the playful gleam in her eye, her hand trailing down his arm to intertwine her fingers with his as she tugged him in the direction of his hut with her bright laugh…well, no one could blame him for putting in extra time every day to improve.

And he had! He could go toe-to-toe with the twins (both of them at once), could hold his own against the bigger and stronger hunters (at least enough for Toothless to come blasting through), and had even managed to outwit and outfight Astrid almost as much as she did to him. So Snotlout wasn’t any more challenging than usual. At first, at least.

“Come on, Hiccup, come get me!” Snotlout taunted, leaping out of the way as he brought Inferno down in a sweeping arc, missing the edge of his helmet by mere centimeters. Hiccup’s lips twisted into a smile as he ducked to the side, stepping out of range of Snotlout’s counter attack with his axe that otherwise would have sliced clean through his armor.

“Just making the fight drag on longer, Snotlout. What’s the fun if I end it early?” He swung again, this time catching the handle of the other’s axe as he rushed to block the flaming sword in time.

“Hah! You wish.” They kept going for a few more minutes, trading blows and snarky remarks the way only the two of them tended to do. Fishlegs was sitting off to the side of the arena, working through his Dragon Eye cards while offering brief encouragement (usually only to Hiccup). Astrid was sharpening her axe, getting ready for her turn to fight in the ring, keeping an amused eye on the fight already happening. The twins were… somewhere . They were supposed to be here training, but then again, when were they ever where they were actually supposed to be?

“Macey is ready to hit things!”

And there they are.

With their own cries of battle, Ruffnut and Tuffnut leapt in from the stands of the arena, maces raised and running right into the middle of Snotlout’s jab at Hiccup. Both of them leapt back, sharing a brief look of utter exasperation before the twins began swinging at them both. “You guys do realize-” Hiccup started, breaking off to deflect Ruffnut’s swipe, then jumping back to avoid Snotlout’s axe. “-that these sparring matches are not a free-for-all?” He paused, gesturing wildly with his sword. “Why don’t you guys go spar with Astrid? She’s been itching for a fight.” 

Snotlout, however, just grinned and raised his axe. “Or, guys, I have a better idea. Let’s all just fight Hiccup .” Hiccup’s eyes widened and he resisted the urge to roll them to Valhalla. 

“Guys, that’s not how this works- guys!” But the three of them were laughing now, all turned towards him with weapons raised. And despite himself, he couldn’t help but laugh along, reigniting Inferno and charging towards them as Astrid’s delighted laugh rang in his ears. Three against one was not fair by any means, especially since he knew all three of them were highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat. But again, he could handle his sword pretty well, and was happy for the challenge to see how long he could hold his own against his riders. I get in enough trouble with dragon hunters, and everyone knows they won’t fight fair.

He was aware of Astrid cheering him on in the background, occasionally calling out remarks like ‘watch Lout’s leg!’ or ‘Tuff’s open!’, ever the sparring coach. Toothless he knew was perched on the overlook, his tail swinging languidly as he napped in the bright afternoon soon. One green eye opened from time to time to check in, watching as Hiccup danced out of the way of their swings. 

To his credit, he was doing a pretty good job of keeping up - parrying, ducking, always thinking two moves ahead. Snotlout leaves his side open when he swings from above. Tuff and Ruff rely on combo attacks too often and have a few seconds where they are vulnerable. But…he was tired. It had been another long night in a series of long nights, the kind he had been having far too often recently as Viggo got bolder and bolder. He still hadn’t located him after their first real encounter, where Heather had almost been lost and was now somewhere on her own. He couldn’t find her either. 

And gods, he was trying. Spending night after night pouring over their accumulation of maps. Sending T-mails out to traders he knew to get leads on either person’s location. Designing ways to counteract traps, planning trainings, improving Inferno…all to stay one step ahead of the game that Viggo insisted on playing. So when Snotlout lunged forward as both Ruffnut and Tuffnut swung from either side, could anyone really blame him for being half a second too slow?

Snotlout’s axe struck him in the side, grazing his leather armor. Ruffnut’s axe swept his legs out from under him as Tuff’s mace knocked him (lightly) on the head. The wind rushed out of him as he hit the ground, blinking away black spots as he groaned. Snotlout had already started chanting, as he usually did. The twins were cackling.

“Victory!” Ruffnut cheered, planting one knee on his chest as he whined at the extra pressure. She grinned down at him. “You okay there, Chief?”

Snotlout rolled his shoulders, reaching down for his hand as Tuffnut reached for the other one. “You lasted longer than I thought you would in that.”

“Yeah H, should we let Astrid join the fun too next time?” Hiccup grasped both of their hands, starting to pull himself up before flopping to the ground again instead.

“Give me a minute to feel my ribs again, guys,” he groaned, turning his head to the side to watch Astrid make her way over. “I’m in pain.”

“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” she teased, a light smile on her face. “But, I can always-” She didn’t get any further, as just then, a low, dangerous growl rolled across the arena. Everyone froze, and Hiccup lifted his head, looking around for whatever made that noise. A wild dragon? Another animal? It took him a second too long to pinpoint that the fierce growl was none other than Toothless , and even longer for him to realize what was about to happen.

“Everyone move!” The effect was immediate, as the others scrambled back just in time for Toothless to dive towards them, landing hard in between Hiccup and the other riders. His wings flared, eyes narrowed into threatening slits, teeth in full view. His growl had deepened into a warning rumble as his body covered Hiccup’s, who had pulled himself into a seated pushing with a low groan. Toothless’s head swiveled around as he sized up the others, with all of the fury of a protective sibling and a predator combined.

“Whoa whoa whoa!” Snotlout shouted, backing up even further with his hands outstretched. “Call off your dragon!”

The twins also had their hands raised in surrender, weapons left forgotten on the floor. “What gives T?” Tuffnut asked, kicking his mace further out of view in an attempt to make Toothless calm down.

Hiccup shifted, wincing as the movement pulled at his sore muscles. “ Toothless! I’m fine!” Sure, his head was spinning a little bit, and Ruffnut seemed to have four legs, but in the grand scheme of things, he really was fine. Toothless seemed to disagree, however, as he turned his head to appraise Hiccup’s condition. While his attention was back on Hiccup, Ruffnut shifted from where she had frozen. Immediately, Toothless snapped his focus back to the others, stepping forward to place himself squarely between Hiccup and everyone else.

“Toothless, hey , no one is going to hurt Hiccup. It’s just us! It’s Astrid.” Astrid had stepped forward, hand outreached placatingly. At her voice, Toothless seemed to hesitate, warbling uncertainly back at her. Hiccup struggled to stand, shifting closer to Toothless’s side. Astrid motioned for the other three to get behind her, and they moved one step at a time. He seems to listen to her since she hadn’t been actively sparring with me. “That’s it Toothless! The others were just sparring. Play-fighting! Like me and Hiccup do. Not trying to hurt him.”

“Yeah no one’s trying to kill him, or anything,” Snotlout chimed in, grimacing when Ruffnut landed a kick to his leg. “ Ow!” But the damage was done. At the word ‘kill’, Toothless had crouched low again, another growl building in his throat as even Astrid took a step back. 

“Nice going Snotlout,” she muttered, holding her hand out to Toothless in vain. Finally, Hiccup got to his feet, stepping forward to touch his dragon’s side. Then, and only then, did his growl fade, and he turned his head to nudge Hiccup’s side. 

“I’m good, but thanks bud,” he muttered softly, leaning on his side to stand fully. “But I promise, I’m okay. Just bruised pride.”

The others fanned out from behind Astrid, all looking at Toothless with varying expressions of annoyance. “Remind me to never knock you on your ass again,” Ruffnut complained. “What’s the fun if Toothless just mauls me?”

“I knew he was protective, but this is a bit much,” Astrid agreed, placing her hand on Toothless’s nose now that he was actually letting them get close.

“What’s next? Is he going to kill me next time I trip you?” Toothless growled again, and Snotlout yelped. “ Kidding! I was kidding, okay, geez.”

Hiccup sighed, rubbing his temple. His headache had only grown exponentially with the entire ordeal. “I know, I know. He got a bit overprotective because he knows I haven’t been sleeping too well, isn’t that right bud?”

Toothless chirped in response.

“Sorry about that guys, I should have known not to push it today. He knows you guys aren’t threats, he just-”

Astrid’s eyes softened. “He just cares too much.”

Hiccup turned back to Toothless, who was now looking up at him with his wide green eyes. How could I be mad when he just wants me safe? “He really does.”

Chapter Text

In theory, the mission had really been quite simple: scouting a possible new island for an observation outpost, a place where they’d be able to land from time to time when venturing away from the Edge as they fanned out further and further in search of Viggo and his ships. But Hiccup supposed the lack of sleep had finally been getting to him (well, more than usual), and he had failed to adjust Toothless’s tail fin properly, resulting in the wobble that had gotten him thrown off in the rocky gravel. 

He hadn’t gone far, simply tumbled down a short slope that he would have seen if his vision hadn’t already been spotty and his head light from a lack of breakfast. As it was, he hadn’t seen it - nor the rock at the bottom of the slope where he cracked his shoulder. Thankfully it wasn’t broken, but he still couldn’t lift his arm properly, and Astrid had stubbornly insisted in her own Astrid fury that he see Gothi immediately. So here they were.

Hiccup sat cross-legged on the table in Gothi’s hut, his tunic cut so that his hung half-off his wiry frame, injured shoulder exposed. He had to admit, the purple-green color didn’t look the best. But I’ve definitely had worse. Not that Astrid would hear his arguments on the time he was wasting here, but that was besides the point. She had gone off to check on her A-team down by the Academy, giving him a stern order to “stay put” and Toothless and even sterner order to make sure he complied. And Hiccup was a lot of things but he wasn’t stupid. Astrid said “stay” so “stay” he would. Toothless certainly wasn’t going to let him leave.

The dragon sat a few paces behind him, close enough to hover anxiously, but not so close as to impede Gothi’s skeptical inspection. His tail flicked every few seconds, a telltale sign of his concern. His ears were forward, eyes narrowed and watching every movement Gothi made with laser focus. The old woman approached with a carved bone salve applicator, barely having had to take a glance at his discolored shoulder before informing him with her stick ‘definitely bruised, but you’ll be fine’.  

Her other hand held a jar of something that smelled suspiciously like pine tar and vinegar and a few…other things he would choose not to name in his head. As she unscrewed the lid and slathered the applicator with a generous heaping, he winced preemptively at the glob-like substance.

“That’s not going to…paralyze me or anything, will it?” he asked nervously, only half-joking. Gothi simply narrowed her eyes, and he didn’t need her stick to be able to translate what she was saying. ‘Don’t test me.’ Without any further words, she brought the applicator closer, and he had the vague feeling that it looked a little too much like a needle for comfort. Toothless shifted slightly from the corner of his eye.

Still, Hiccup knew he had handled much worse, and simply braced himself as the applicator prodded around the bruised shoulder, the cool salve touching his heated skin. He couldn’t help the pained hiss that left his lips. “Okay—ow, yep, still kind of tender—” 

That was apparently all Toothless needed to hear. A deep growl sounded out through the hut, and instinctively, Hiccup froze, shifting slightly away from Gothi and the outstretched applicator. Ah Bud, not again. Toothless was standing now, pupils shrinking back into slits that were focused on the disgruntled healer. Hiccup immediately shifted, pausing as his muscles pulled in the wrong direction.

“Bud- no, no, no,” he quickly got out, trying to slowly twist his body towards his worried dragon. “She’s not hurting me! She’s treating me!” Toothless didn’t seem to really be listening, as he stepped forward with a low rumble, positioning himself between Gothi and Hiccup. Thankfully, his wings remained tucked in (Gothi’s hut definitely didn’t have the space to have Toothless stretch out his wings - not if she wanted all of her bottles and salves intact), but Hiccup could clearly see the tremor of tension in them regardless. 

His paw stomped lightly on the map. A clear warning. Gothi, for her part, wasn’t phased in the least. If anything, her annoyance had grown. She scowled, tapping the applicator against the edge of the table in irritation and impatience. Hiccup let out a sigh, rubbing at the incessant headache that always seemed to be blooming at his temples lately. 

“He’s just trying to help me,” he placated the old healer. “I think he thought you were trying to stab me with a dagger. He heard my pain and reacted, like he always does.”

He saw her eyes soften, just for a second, before her standard exasperation was back. Toothless, for his part, turned his head to fix one incredulous eye on Hiccup, snorting once.

Really? You yelp and you expect me not to do anything?

Hiccup stared back at him. “I didn’t yelp!”

Another unimpressed look. 

“Okay, yes, I yelped. But I’m sensitive, I bruised my shoulder!” Still, Toothless didn’t start to relax until Gothi slowly stepped back, arms folded in front of her and the applicator now steadily dripping its medicinal goop on the floor. She fixed a baleful eye on him with a look that very clearly said ‘Control your overgrown reptile.’

Hiccup looked back at Toothless, who had gone back to staring at him now, eyeing his purple shoulder with a warble of concern. He felt his entire being melt as it so often did around his best friend, and he reached a hand out to place it on his head. “I’m alright Bud, I should have paid better attention to the tailfin. Just a little tired lately, I know. I know you’re worried about me right now.” He turned back to Gothi, making an effort to shrug his good shoulder. “We’re still working on boundaries,” he offered with a crooked smile.

Toothless shifted once more, this time curling around to sit firmly behind him, bumping his head under Hiccup’s good arm. Now, he was close enough to make sure he could watch exactly what was being done to treat Hiccup, and he could make sure no one else would be poking around his rider’s tender spots without permission. 

Gothi stared at them for a second longer before grabbing her staff to scribble in the ground with a huff. ‘Fine, but tell him I’ve been treating you since you were in diapers.’ Hiccup couldn’t do much else but smile, hand idly tracing patterns on Toothless’s scales. Toothless simply warbled contentedly, and for once, stayed put.

Chapter Text

The Edge was tense lately, as if the weather could also sense the Riders’ shifting moods. It seemed as though everyone was a bit more subdued lately, like wires pulled too taut with each passing day of no news from Viggo Grimborn, or from Heather. It had been a few months since their fateful introduction to the younger Grimborn brother, and it seemed as though the entire Edge was suffering for it. The sky hung heavy with dense fog, pressing low over the cliffs and wrapping around the sea like a warning. The Riders had been on edge for weeks, scrambling to keep up with raids, fires, sabotage from the Hunters, all while Hiccup’s mind had been elsewhere half the time, leaving Astrid to lead them in his mental absence. 

He was pushing himself harder and harder, chasing leads on Viggo that never quite panned out. It had grown bad enough that even Snotlout had succumbed to following Astrid’s lead, and the twins refrained from their jokes whenever Hiccup strode into the room, face set and eyes burning with a fire none of them quite knew what to do with. Least of all her. When it became clear that the others wouldn’t - couldn’t - follow his desperate thoughts, he had taken it upon himself to go searching alone.

Hours upon hours, they’d look for him only to discover a hastily tacked note on the Clubhouse wall detailing which lead he’d followed this time. Or a map to an island he was checking out. Or a scrap of paper with some hearsay he was tracking. Or sometimes, more lately… nothing at all . No one knew where he’d gone this time.

Astrid had woken up with the sun, heading to the stables to saddle up Stormfly for their morning flight around the island. She’d decided on a whim to swing by the Clubhouse to grab a quick snack, and it was by pure luck that her eye had caught on the map drawer slightly open. She had peered in idly to double back, finding a jagged tear across the section that marked the western islands near Hunter territory. No note. No warning. No goodbye.

She remembered that area of land quite well. They’d tried landing nearby a few times, but had always pulled back. It was crawling with hunters and trapped dragons, cruel and dangerous in a way they weren’t quite equipped to deal with yet. Or so she had thought. So, if Hiccup was clearly mutton-headed enough to make such a wild decision for himself, she decided that as his second-in-command it was only fair that she got to cross some lines of her own. So, Astrid made a decision.

And later that afternoon, when there was still no sign of Hiccup, Astrid saw Skullcrusher in the distance, massive wings pounding through the heavy mist. She was already waiting at the cliffside. “Chief!” Stoick landed hard, dismounting quickly with jaw tight, eyes already scanning the side. Astrid caught his arm, relief shining in her eyes. “I’m so glad you’re here. Hopefully I didn’t pull you away from anything too important back on Berk?”

Stoick, for his part, simply smiled warmly at her, resting his massive arm around her shoulders with a gentle squeeze. “Not at all, lass. Nothing is more important than my muttonheaded son. I take it he hasn’t returned?”

She shook her head, already turning to grip Stormfly’s saddle. “Like I said in my T-mail, he’s been gone since before dawn. I know he’s headed to the western isles, alone, but that’s about it. He’s not listening to any of us, not even me , so I figured if you try-”

“-maybe I can get through to him,” Stoick finished, nodding grimly. “We’d have to find him first-” No sooner had the sentence left his lips when a black shape appeared against the fog, slightly crooked in its silhouette. Too low. Too fast.

“Toothless,” Astrid breathed, heart lurching as she stepped forward. “He’s back.” But there was something wrong. The Night Fury’s flight was uneven, strained. And when they got closer, her heart stopped altogether. Hiccup was slumped forward in the saddle, one arm clutched to his ribs, the other holding tightly onto Toothless’s front strap. By the time Toothless hit the ground in a hard landing, Astrid and Stoick were already sprinting forward, arms out to catch him. He half-fell out of the saddle, leg buckling the moment his boot hit the ground. 

Stoick was the one to catch him. “What in Thor’s name-” he began, but Hiccup shoved him off with a wince and a glare. Then he seemed to realize exactly who had caught him, and his gaze snapped back, eyes widening in shock first before narrowing suspiciously.

“Dad? What are you- what are you doing here?” Stoick didn’t answer him immediately. Instead, his eyes flicked between the bruises on Hiccup’s face to the torn leather of his armor, and finally, to the dark stain spreading steadily underneath his hand. When it became clear that Stoick wasn’t going to give an answer anytime soon, Hiccup turned to Astrid, eyes dark. 

She swallowed. Now, Astrid wasn’t afraid of Hiccup , not at all. But she hated upsetting him, and she knew that this - calling his father here behind his back - was definitely something that would upset him, to say the least. Still, she pushed forward, steeling her voice.

 “I sent for him.” He blinked in surprise, staring at her, stunned. “You didn’t even tell us you were leaving,” she said, voice rising with frustration and something a little more brittle underneath. “I only found out because the map was missing. You know, the western isles one? The one you told us was too dangerous to face?” He flinched back a bit at that, and emboldened, she pressed forward. “I told you - we told you - we’d go together, and you told us to leave the area be for now. So why the hell did you go alone? ”

Hiccup chose to completely ignore all of that, his expression instead turning sharp and defensive. “So you went behind my back?” He challenged, pointing aggressively back towards where Stoick stood, silent and watching. “You called my father?”

Astrid felt her temper flare, as it seemed to do far too often around Hiccup lately. “I didn’t know what else to do!” She snapped, the concern bleeding out in her tone regardless. “You’re bleeding, you’re exhausted, and you’re still acting like everything is fine-”

“-you had no right .” Hiccup cut her off. His voice was low and harsher than he had ever been with her yet. She had a sinking feeling it wouldn’t be the last time, either. “This isn’t your call, Astrid.” That was what finally silenced her, and she took a step back.

“I…I was just trying to help.” 

That was when Stoick decided to step in. “That’s enough,” he said firmly, stepping in between them. He turned sharply to his son, who, to his credit, refused to shrink beneath his gaze. “Don’t take this out on her.” Instead, Hiccup narrowed his eyes, opening his mouth to clearly argue again. But Stoick wasn’t finished. “She’s the only one thinking clearly right now.”

This got a flinch. “I am thinking clearly-”

“No,” Stoick said softly, his tone growing heavier with the weight of everything his son must be silently carrying on his own. “You’re chasing ghosts and getting yourself killed.” Hiccup groaned at that, turning away with his fists clenched at his side. Stoick took a second to look him over. His scraped leg, bruised cheek, a tremble in the way he was standing…and something inside Stoick broke. 

Of course, neither father nor son was known for being overly emotional, and all of those emotions and anger had to go somewhere. Where else than at each other? It took barely a few minutes for it all to boil over, Astrid having fled to leave them to their conversation after Hiccup’s final scathing words to her. Hiccup limped towards the door to his hut, Toothless bounding behind him dutifully. Stoick tried to count silently to 5 to calm his growing anger, but when that didn’t work, he charged after Hiccup regardless.

When will that boy ever listen to me?

The door slammed behind them both like thunder, lightning sparking in the tension-filled atmosphere. Hiccup leaned against the edge of the table, clearly trying to keep both the weight off his injured side and his gaze away from his father. Toothless paced restlessly behind him, ears angled back, tail twitching idly at the silence. 

“I told you not to go near the western isles again!” Stoick snapped, finally losing his patience at the prolonged lack of explanation. “It was too dangerous for your team! There are just too many outposts there, your dragons would not have been enough.”

“We weren’t on that particular island,” Hiccup shot back, tugging at his hair in frustration. “We were west of it. The lead was coming from-”

“Don’t play semantics with me!” Stoick was well aware that his voice had definitely risen in volume now. “You went off alone! You were close enough to a zone where your whole team would have been decimated, and you didn’t tell your riders. You didn’t even tell Astrid! You lied .”

“I didn’t lie-”

“Well you damn well didn’t tell the truth!” At this, Hiccup shoved off the table, stepping closer. They both pretended not to see his wince at the weight on his leg. 

“I am the leader of the Riders, Dad! I don’t need your permission every time I leave my own damn island!”

“You are not just the Riders’ leader! You are the next Chief of Berk, and more importantly, you are my son and you are going to get yourself killed.” He was most definitely shouting now. Even Toothless had stopped pacing, his green eyes more slits than round now and locked on Stoick. He started to growl, quiet and deep. Stoick’s eyes flicked back to Toothless before going back to Hiccup, whose glare had turned into a downright snarl. Like dragon, like rider.

“I had Toothless,” he snapped. “We got out.”

“Barely! You’re covered in blood, limping, and you damn near fell out of the sky!”

“I had it under control!”

Stoick threw his hands up. “You didn’t even tell anyone! What if you hadn’t come back? What if Toothless had been too late? What if I had to fly all the way here and find your still body in the wreckage?” Stoick’s voice cracked. He let the word ‘again’ go unspoken. They both knew what he was talking about anyway. It was obvious in the way Hiccup froze, the way Stoick’s chest heaved, the way the fear had bled through the rage. Toothless went stiff, the growl rumbling even louder in the heavy silence. 

“I know you think you can handle everything,” Stoick said, trying to make his voice a little calmer. He failed. “But you’re running yourself into the ground, Hiccup. You’re getting sloppy chasing Viggo’s ghost, and you’re going to die because you think you are the only one who can fix this.”

Hiccup’s jaw clenched, and he glared up at Stoick. The defiance in those bright green eyes hurt. If he focused enough, cast his memory back far enough, they could almost be turquoise blue, glimmering in the same headstrong way he loved so much-

“And what? You want me to sit on my hands while Viggo plans his next ambush? If we wait we’ll only make it worse!”

“Stop! You’ll only make it worse!”

“I want you to stay alive!” He roared, and before he could stop himself, his fist slammed the table next to where his son stood - hard - and the ink jar spilled. The remaining bottles rattled as the sound cracked through the room like lightning. But Stoick didn’t notice any of that. No, his gaze was fixed on the way Hiccup flinched. And that was it.

Toothless moved. 

The black dragon surged forward with a growl like a rolling avalanche, sharp and sudden. It took barely a second for him to plant himself in front of Hiccup, wings flaring and ears pinned flat. His growl wasn’t angry - it was protective. Possessive. His eyes locked on Stoick, wide and slitted, just as they had that day in the arena, so many years ago. Back when Stoick had been the biggest threat his son had faced. The message was as clear now as it had been back then. Back off. 

Stoick took a half-step back, and it was as if he was coming out from underwater. I did that, he thought with a ragged breath. I scared my son and his dragon.

Hiccup, for his part, seemed to have recovered remarkably fast, already reaching out to scratch between Toothless’s ears. One eye was still on Stoick, however. “Toothless - hey, hey it’s alright,” he said quickly, leaning down to rest his forehead against his dragon’s. “It’s okay, Bud. He’s not - he’s not gonna hurt me.” And gods did that hurt him. Stoick would be the first to admit that alright, he may not have been the best father for the first 15 years of Hiccup’s life.

He could have been nicer, more tolerant, more kind. But everything he did came out of a place of immense love and protection. The last thing he would ever want to do would be to hurt his son. And by Thor, he knew he had wounded his son’s heart too many times over the years. But to actually hurt him? He’d rather fall on his own axe. And yet-

And yet.

Toothless didn’t move. He just growled once more, lower and deeper. Those green eyes so much like his son’s fixed on his face while his son resolutely looked anywhere but him. And Stoick could understand him, both of them. Toothless’s noises didn’t come from just some animalistic instinct. They came from intention. After all, Toothless had seen Stoick yell before, numerous times over the years. But not like this. Not with this level of fear in his voice. Not with Hiccup already hurt and bleeding and Thor why couldn’t his son ever stop bleeding nowadays-

“It’s okay,” Hiccup murmured, clearly exhausted enough to have to lean completely over on Toothless for support. “He’s my dad. He’s not going to hurt me. He would never hurt me.” Stoick’s heart broke a little bit more at the utter conviction in those words, even in the wake of their argument. Even when he had so clearly scared him. 

Toothless held his ground, smoke puffing through his flared nostrils. Finally, a minute passed. Then another. And another. Finally, finally , he sat down. Deliberate and immovable, a boundary of scale and fire between father and son. His tail curled tight and possessive around Hiccup’s legs, his body still angled between them. A guardian. 

Stoick’s expression cracked at that, the guilt flooding through. He looked between his hands, then the table, at the mess of maps and ink and glass. Finally, back to Hiccup’s pale face. “I didn’t mean to shout like that,” he said, his voice rough before he coughed and tried again. “Not at you. I-” He stopped. “I was terrified.”

Hiccup lifted his head then, meeting his father’s eyes. He let out a slow breath, then slowly, slowly, one step at a time, stepped around Toothless (ignoring the concerned whine). “I know,” he said softly, reaching over to place a hand on Stoick’s arm. Stoick couldn’t help but marvel at how utterly tiny his son was in comparison to himself. How fragile. How breakable. “But I’m not trying to die. I’m just trying to protect everyone.”

But who’s going to protect you?

Stoick looked at him for a long time, then at the dragon still keeping a steady guard beside him. “You don’t have to protect everyone by yourself,” he said, instead of the raging pleas in his heart to slow down come home stay safe stay alive . “That’s not leadership. That’s a burden.” His voice must have calmed down enough for Toothless’s standards, because the dragon let out a soft huff, uncurling himself ever so slightly. 

Hiccup, for his part, simply nodded. “I’ll try to remember that.” Stoick looked at him for a long moment. The hair that seemed like he had spent far too many nights with fingers tangled in the auburn locks, tugging the strands out. The pale face and dark circles under those brilliant eyes that he loved so much. The thin frame and thinner bones that were proof that he hadn’t been eating nearly enough. All of the proof that his son was far weaker than he ought to be and yet so much stronger than he ever could have imagined. He stepped forward - cautiously, to not startle either the boy nor the dragon - and placed a heavy hand on his son’s shoulder.

“You scared me,” he admitted, ducking down to meet his eyes. “More than you ever have.” Hiccup didn’t answer immediately. He stared down at the floor, then back at Toothless, who still sat like a sentinel between them.

Then, quietly, “I didn’t mean to.” 

“I know. And that’s what scares me the most.” Because how many times had his son flown face-first into danger to protect those he loved? How many times had he been at death’s door? How many times had no one even thought to let Stoick know? If not for Astrid, would he have ever found out about this latest excursion? Will one day he fly to the Edge only to see his son’s broken body?

There was a pause, the kind that weighed as heavy as a silence after a storm. Then Stoick could bear the silence, the distance, no longer. He pulled him in, one arm wrapped tight around Hiccup's back, and the other cradling the back of his head. He drew him in like he was still fifteen and stubborn and broken. Like he was ten and headstrong and determined. Like he was five and scared and sad. Like this was his baby boy all grown up and yet still a child. His child. His Hiccup. 

Hiccup hesitated - just for a heartbeat - then fell forwards, letting himself be held. “I’ll slow down,” he mumbled into his father's shoulder. “I promise.” Maybe he meant it. Maybe he actually would. Or maybe it was a lie he was telling his father so that they could both sleep that night. Stoick’s arms just tightened around him, as he rested his chin on his son’s head and closed his eyes, breathing him in like it was the last time he’d ever hold him. And honestly, with his son’s obsession with danger, who knew?

But he didn’t care whether it was true or not. Right now, it was simply enough to hear it. Toothless let out a huff of approval, curling around them both. At least with that dragon of his, he’ll be protected. Even from me.

And for a moment, it felt like enough.

Chapter Text

The cave they were in wasn’t too big, barely wide enough for them both to stand in, but it was dry. And most importantly, it was hidden. With Viggo’s hunters still patrolling the forest outside, hunting him, hunting Toothless , this cave would have to do. Hiccup ducked out, glancing furtively from side to side. The coast was clear, for now at least, though there was no telling how long that would last. He dragged the fallen branches back over the entrance of the cave before collapsing against the side, resting his head back against the rough stone.

He glanced over, his heart lurching in his chest at Toothless’s mournful green eyes. His beloved dragon lay curled near the back wall of the cave, sides heaving and limbs twitching. His pupils were dilated, tail falling limp behind him. While the dragon root arrow hadn’t lodged deeply - just a nick, really - it had been enough to bring them both down hard mid-flight, the ship of dragon hunters they had run into sailing not far behind them. Gods, I really should have listened to Astrid. Why didn’t I listen to Astrid?

Hiccup himself had been thrown in the crash, hitting the ground with a sickening thud that had left his shoulder aching, ribs definitely cracked, and his leg in utter agony. So, another day in the week. Didn’t make it any more fun though. Now, he sat against the wall, his functional leg twisted awkwardly in front of him while the metal one bent at a slightly inconvenient angle. He gripped the side of his ribs, groaning in pain as the blood steadily seeped through the gaps between his fingers from a nasty gash.

“I know, Bud,” he mumbled, reaching out his other hand to rest it on Toothless’s nose, stroking the scales. He wasn’t sure if that was more for Toothless’s comfort, or his own. “We really should have listened to her. Oh, she’s going to kill me when we get back. If the hunters don’t do it first.”

Toothless let out an angry snort, and Hiccup laughed, despite himself. Or maybe the blood-loss was getting to his head and he was getting hysteric. Who could tell? “Sorry Bud, not funny.”

He was lightheaded. He was dizzy. He was miserable. But at least, he was alone.

Until Dagur found them. 

Hiccup blinked through the haze that had taken over his mind, hearing the tell-tale shuffle of boots against stone. Toothless let out a questioning warble, and Hiccup brought a bloodstained finger to his lips. He tensed, his other hand gripping the dagger that was strapped to his thigh (an insistence from Astrid that he was glad he had listened to, even if he had ignored everything else she said). He crept towards the entrance of the cave, waiting for one beat. Then two. Then three. Then-

“Easy, brother.” Suddenly, Dagur was standing in the entrance, his hair a little longer, beard a little scruffier, but his eyes as manic as they had always been. His voice was… gentler than it used to be. And his hands no longer held an axe that would threaten to split open Hiccup’s skull at a whim. Instead, they were out in a placating gesture as he took a step closer. “I’m not here to fight.” Hiccup, for his part, had raised his own dagger, scrambling back as far as he could before letting out a pained wince at the way it pulled at the gash leaking on his side. 

He lifted the dagger, trying to aim it at one of the three Dagurs he could see in his shifting vision. He didn’t think he was very successful, if the tremble in his hands was anything to go by. Not here to fight? When is he ever not here to fight?

“You- what are you-”

“I left Viggo.” What? Dagur had moved to a crouch now, hands still outstretched in front of him. With his other hand, he unslung his satchel, dropping it to the ground between himself and Hiccup, opening it slowly, as though trying not to startle him with any sudden movements. The irony of Dagur treating him like a flight risk wasn’t exactly lost on him. “Turns out he doesn’t like being betrayed.” He laughed then, the manic, crazy laugh that always unnerved him. It did so again now. “Ironic, right?” Hiccup couldn’t bring himself to muster a response to that. His mind was still reeling from the fact that Dagur was right there. 

Dagur continued to talk, blabbering on about Heather and maces and talons and the skrill and other things Hiccup probably would have been paying attention to if he hadn’t been watching Dagur rummaging through his satchel, as if waiting for him to pull out a knife and be like psych! Now you die! He wouldn’t put it past him. He’d done it before. Hiccup also couldn’t really find the strength to move his eyes too much either. Maybe the blood loss really was getting to him. I should probably do something about that…

“-and anyways, it’s a good thing I have these bandages because boy do you need them! I mean seriously, did you fight a bush or something? If you did, you lost. I mean, then again, you’re so skinny and tiny that all I’d really have to do is wrap my hands around you and twist and you’d snap like a little twig, and-”

That was when Toothless decided to make his presence known. His dragon had stirred by this time with a low groan, head shifting towards the sounds of Dagur’s voice and Hiccup’s increasingly labored breathing. His nostrils flared as his eyes blinked once. Twice. And then he saw Dagur. 

His growl rumbled immediately, tinged with pain from the Dragon Root and quiet for fear of discovery, but no less fierce in its protective nature. Hiccup shuffled backwards a few paces, gritting his teeth and pressing up against Toothless. They were both pretty defenseless at the moment, especially against someone like Dagur the fucking Deranged but Hiccup knew one thing for sure - if he was going to go down, it would be with Toothless.

Toothless forced himself upright, his legs still trembling beneath them. He attempted to lift his wings, forcing them to spread out the way Hiccup knew he did when he was intimidating others. He felt his dragon’s pain, felt it through every tremor in his body. And yet Toothless still moved, slow and deliberate, placing himself between Hiccup and Dagur. Dagur, for his part, had noticed the low rumble of thunder from Toothless, and definitely noticed Hiccup’s pale face. He had a feeling he hadn’t quite managed to mask his own fear. 

Dagur paused in his ramblings then, hands clutching what Hiccup finally noticed to be…actual bandages. He blinked in shock. Dagur wasn’t lying? Dagur glanced between Toothless’s snarling form and the knives that hung in his belt. He looked up again, then back down, and back up before it seemed to click in his mind, and he quickly slid them from their sheaths, tossing them over his shoulder and lifting up the bandages instead. The quick motion had Toothless snarling in warning, shifting even closer as a clear back off.

“Whoa! Hey, hey.” Dagur raised his hands in defense, eyes flicking nervously between Toothless and Hiccup. “I’m not here to hurt him, I promise. I just want to- look, he’s BLEEDING!” His voice raised towards the end, the manic tone Hiccup was so accustomed to hearing bleeding through in the other’s obvious frustration. Toothless certainly didn’t appreciate it however, and growled louder, eyes wild with both pain and instinct. Hiccup grimaced, shifting against the wall as a dull ache spread through his ribs. Oh that’s probably not good. But neither is trusting Dagur. Either way, if he didn’t do something soon, he’d definitely pass out from the pain and then Dagur would just kill him and take Toothless regardless. I might be about to make the biggest mistake of my life, but here goes.

“Bud, stop,” Hiccup rasped, reaching forward to rest a blood-streaked hand on his dragon’s tail. “He’s not…he’s not with them anymore.” Toothless didn’t care. He continued planting himself over Hiccup like a living shield, snarling fiercely despite the tremors that wracked his body as the cursed Dragon Root made its way through his system. Poisoned and hurt and immovable. He wouldn’t let anyone near his rider. Hiccup felt a warmth spread through him at Toothless’s obvious devotion to him. I know, Bud. I wouldn’t leave you either. Still, their situation was less than ideal, and he hoped to have both him and Toothless make it back alive and intact so Astrid could murder them together. If that meant trusting Dagur…well, he had done stupider things, hadn’t he?

He coughed, wincing at the jolt of sheer agony that sent through his side, but used what little strength he had to pull himself up against his dragon. Toothless rumbled curiously, tilting his head just slightly towards him so that way he could still keep an eye on Dagur, who kept his hands raised and his mouth blessedly shut. “Bud,” Hiccup whispered, pressing his forehead to Toothless’s, keeping himself standing through Toothless’s support and his own willpower. “It’s okay. I promise. I… I trust him.”  

Toothless whined - a soft, agonized sound - and looked at him with those wide eyes. Hiccup looked right back, humming softly.

Are you sure you trust him? He tried to hurt you. Multiple times.

I know, Bud. But he can help me. I need help and so do you.

I can protect you.

I know, Bud. I know. If he tries anything-

I’ll fry him.

I know.

I don’t trust him. But I trust you.

One second passed. Then another. Finally, reluctantly, he slumped back, eyes still trained on Dagur. He flopped to the ground, teeth bared for a second longer before resting his head in his front limbs again - still between his rider and this old enemy, but no longer growling. Dagur stayed where he was, still eyeing Toothless with a good amount of suspicion. Hiccup had shifted to settle back against Toothless, his own gaze fixed on the Berserker as well. Finally, after enough silence had passed for it to be considered awkward , Dagur broke it. “I wasn’t gonna stab you.”

That finally snapped the tension between them, and Hiccup let out a wheeze of a laugh. “Not your best line, Dagur.” The other looked at him in surprise, mouth twitching faintly as if pleased to have gotten this kind of reaction from him. Pleased to have gotten any kind of reaction at all that wasn’t a snarl. Still dazed and bleeding, Hiccup couldn’t quite find it in himself to care. In fact, he kind of liked that small quirk of a smile from Dagur. Much more than his frightening, manic ones at least. Not that the bar was very high.  

Dagur didn’t verbalize his joke with a response, instead opting to shrug lightly before finally, carefully , stepping forward to kneel beside him. Toothless’s eye followed his every motion, and Hiccup absentmindedly soothed a hand over his scales to keep him calm as Dagur got closer. The Berserker stretched the roll of bandages, hesitating with his hands hovering above Hiccup’s ribs. Hiccup met his eyes and was taken aback by the sincerity in them. He nodded, and Dagur got to work.

“You’ve gotten soft,” he muttered before he could stop himself, as Dagur began wrapping the gash and his cracked ribs. He wasn’t entirely gentle, but it got the job done, and Hiccup managed to hold in his worst hisses of pain (lest Toothless misunderstand and begin firing again). Dagur had paused for just a brief second at his words before resuming his work. There was another silence that stretched on, before he muttered back. 

“You’ve gotten reckless.” Dagur tied off the bandages, smoothing them over before retracting his hand at Toothless’s warning rumble. “Come on Brother, you’re usually the smart one between us.” 

Hiccup blinked, peering up at the other. “You complimenting me?” He expected a joke in response, another manic laugh, or something so inexplicably Dagur. What he got instead was a thoughtful expression, the other rolling the bandages back up. 

“I’m not all bad,” He said finally, quieter now. “Not anymore.” Hiccup stared at him for a second longer before his exhaustion took over, and he tipped his head back against Toothless, finally closing his eyes. I don’t know how much I trust him yet, but I do. Trust him. Even if this was all an elaborate trick, some epic psych, you’re so gullible Brother , and Dagur would try to kill him in his rest- Hiccup breathed a little easier. 

Because Toothless continued to watch every movement Dagur made - from him shifting towards his satchel to put the bandages back, to him striking a fire in the cave, to him covering the entrance more thoroughly - with razor focus. His chest still rose and fell unevenly, and there was a sluggishness to his movements that pained Hiccup’s heart, but he was still watching. Still ready. Even on the edge of collapse, Toothless would never stop protecting Hiccup. And Hiccup, still half-bleeding and barely conscious now, reached out a hand to rest lightly on Toothless’s head, answering his dragon’s soft rumble with a sound of his own. 

“I know, Bud,” he whispered. “I’ve got you too. Always.”

Chapter Text

It was one of those rare moments at the Edge when things were calm. No hunters on their horizon, ready to attack. No raids planned that left them all vibrating with leftover adrenaline or exhausted down to their bones. No insane twin inventions about to explode that left Hiccup with a few years shaved off his life span and a permanent headache. Just late afternoon sun painting the sky a beautiful gold and pink, wind whispering through the lush pines, and the smell of salt drifting up from the cliffs. 

Astrid had pulled Hiccup behind the stables after dinner with a light tug to his hand and a flutter of her bright blue eyes - not because she was feeling particularly sneaky (though she definitely was) - but because the others were being obnoxious and annoying about something or the other involving yak butter and Snotlout’s latest fail in dignity. So, they snuck away, as they were prone to doing every now and again when the riders were otherwise preoccupied. The two of them, though they had never quite been subtle with their affections, learned early on in their betrothal to keep certain activities more… private , lest they want to be endlessly teased in the most mortifying of ways (courtesy of the twins and Snotlout).

So, here they were. The stables. They were laughing about something Hiccup couldn’t be bothered to remember now before Astrid had swiftly pinned him (gently, always gently) to the wall with a mischievous smirk, and he had smiled back the way he always did when it was just them - soft and boyish and a little wrecked already. He was always wrecked when he was around her. His hands had settled comfortably around her waist as her own found purchase on his shoulders, knee slotted firmly between his legs. 

“Kiss me or I start talking about the structural support beams of this wall again,” he murmured, already leaning down, breath warm against her lips. She did. And he melted. Their bodies pressed close, her fingers curling deep into the fabric of his tunic, nails scraping the sensitive skin beneath. His hands pulled her flush against him, gripping lightly even now, after months of courtship and betrothal, as if he still wasn’t quite sure he was allowed to have this. Have her. They kissed deep and slow, lips parting and breath catching in the minimal space between them.

She reached up to tug lightly at his hair, just hard enough that he let out a soft noise that was swallowed up by her own mischievous grin, and he leaned his head back against the wall, breathing hard. He liked when she took the lead, taking that burden of pressure and leadership and responsibility from his shoulders in more ways than one, leaving him content to melt beneath her fingers, her mouth, her laugh. “Astrid-”

With a final tug, she pulled away, giving him barely a second to catch sight of the glint in her icy eyes before she had moved lower, her lips finding his throat as she slipped her hands around his neck, every curve of her lithe body pressed tantalizingly to his own. He tipped his head back, content to let his eyes shut as he lost himself in the pleasure of her lips steadily working their way down his throat, pressing deep, lingering kisses, teeth scraping deliciously against his skin. His breath came in ragged gasps, a sound he knew she adored by the way her own pleased hum thrummed against his skin. 

Then, playfully - just because she could never quite help herself - she bit down on the junction of his neck and shoulder. It wasn’t particularly hard, nor painful. He knew it had taken a great deal of practice and embarrassed mornings and painful bruises for her to control her own strength when it came to him. 

This one would leave a mark come the next morning though, he knew. And fuck , he was headed to Berk and did not need his father raising his infamous eyebrow at the marks, but in this moment he couldn’t form enough coherent thought to care. His nerves were frayed from her teasing just enough to make him inhale sharply at the sensation and let out a surprised, low noise in his throat, somewhere between a gasp and a breathless moan.

It wasn’t dramatic, certainly not compared to their other antics. It wasn’t even particularly loud. But Toothless, standing some twenty yards away, curled up in the sun, heard it. And Toothless did not approve. The next sound was the thunderous slam of paws hitting the ground as the Night Fury launched from the watchpost he had been perched on and charged the stables with his wings flared wide and a growl like rolling thunder building threateningly in his throat.

Astrid had just laughed against Hiccup’s skin as he clutched at her belt, her tongue already darting out to soothe over the bitten skin, when a massive black shadow crashed into the space between them with a deafening snarl. Astrid stumbled back as they both wobbled on their feet, already having been weak in the knees from their previous activities. Hiccup blinked, coming out of his pleasure-filled haze to blink at their new arrival.

“ Toothless?”

The dragon stepped between them with a rumbling growl, head low and his pupils already razor-thin. Hiccup glanced around, trying to see if there were any hunters who had somehow not only gotten through their numerous defenses around the Edge, but managed to sneak up behind him and Astrid, and- oh.  

Toothless snarled at Astrid like she’d just tried to set Hiccup on fire. She took a step back, wide eyes darting nervously between a bewildered Hiccup and his somehow-feral dragon, her hands already stretched out in front of her placatingly. “Hey Toothless, buddy, remember me? Astrid? I’ve known you for about 4 years now?” She whipped her head around to Hiccup, panic evident in her expression as she jerked her head towards Toothless, who had now come to stand in between himself and Astrid. 

This finally broke him out of his confused daze, and he immediately shifted to stand in front of the Night Fury, hand stroking comfortingly over his nose. “Toothless! Whoa– whoa whoa whoa, calm down.” Toothless snarled again, sparing Hiccup a fleeting glance before determinantly nudging him behind his body, wings flared as he blocked Hiccup with a protective sweep of his tail. He growled again, and looked just about ready to blast her into next week.

Astrid had backed up against the opposite wall, hands up defensively. “What’s up with him?” She asked with a glare sent in his direction, as if he’d have any idea. Hiccup was at a complete loss. He couldn’t remember the last time Toothless had ever made a stand against Astrid. Toothless adored her, and considered her as good as family as he did Stoick. In fact, the last time he had been so hostile to her had been when they were 15, when he had thought Astrid was going to- oh Thor, you have got to be kidding me.

Just like that, it clicked in his mind, and Hiccup kind of wanted to tear his hair out or throw himself off of the Edge in embarrassment. He settled for neither, and instead reached out to grip Toothless’s saddle and tug him back. “Bud, stop! She didn’t hurt me!” Toothless paused, turning to nudge at Hiccup’s shoulder with a low whine, tongue darting out to lick at the darkening bruise on his neck. He couldn’t quite stop the flush that creeped up, eyes flickering over to Astrid who had just started putting the pieces together.

Her mouth fell open as she gaped. Then she stomped her foot, her face quickly turning the same shade of red as his neck. “Are you serious? ” At her loud voice, Toothless remembered her presence once more, and whipped back around to face her with another growl. Hiccup scrambled forward, trying in vain to soothe his overprotective guardian. 

“Toothless, Bud, yes she bit me-”

“ Hiccup. Not helping!”

“-but it was a…a good bite?” Toothless peered at him, and Hiccup could practically see the judgement radiating off his dragon in waves. Just great. Exactly what I needed. My dragon to judge me and my girlfriend when we make out. Toothless snorted at him, and Hiccup could have sworn if he had eyebrows, they would be raised. “No, not like- not like that , I just- I liked it. It wasn’t- It’s like a mating…thing? Kind of? I mean- Astrid, help me.” He turned to glare at her, and she took a few more steps back, arms crossed over her chest defensively as her eyes flicked between him and Toothless, who still had his teeth bared, but seemed more confused than anything.

She threw her hands-up after an intense staring match with him that lasted all of 3 seconds. “Don’t look at me, you made the noise!”

He huffed. “Only after you bit me that hard!”

“Oh come on, I’ve done worse before-”

“What are you both yelling about?” Just like that, they both froze, and dread creeped up his spine. Oh Thor, kill me now. By now, the others had definitely heard the commotion, and the multiple footfalls informed him that they were on their way. Like Terrible Terrors sniffing out the drama. Snotlout and Ruffnut rounded the corner first– and promptly grinned like it was Snoggletog. Hiccup just hung his head, trying (and failing) to subtly tug the collar of his tunic up. Toothless still stood between Hiccup and Astrid, crouched low to the ground with his tail curled possessively around Hiccup’s legs. What a sight we make. 

Snotlout looked between Hiccup and Astrid, then back down to Toothless with a shit-eating grin on his face. “Looks like trouble in Hiccstrid paradise. Did he just- was he- was he growling at Astrid?” She pointedly turned her head away, and Hiccup averted his eyes. He felt more than saw Ruffnut’s eyes on him, and he realized what was about to happen a second before it actually did.

“Wait, Ruff, don’t–” 

Too late. She had already pounced on him, eagerly tugging down the collar of his tunic and letting out a piercing whistle. “ Goddamn Hofferson did you eat him?” 

She was staring at what was sure to be a rapidly darkening bruise on his neck. Astrid flushed, letting out a string of curses before resolving to just glare in his general direction. As if any of this is my fault. Hiccup didn’t bother to give Ruffnut a response. After a second of silence, Ruffnut poked at his neck, and he couldn’t quite hold back his hiss of pain. Astrid turned another shade darker as Toothless whipped his head back to growl at Ruffnut this time, who immediately backed away with her hands up and a grin threatening to split her face open. “Oh my gods . He thinks she hurt him.”

Astrid shifted her glare to Toothless, and the two engaged in a very heated staring contest. “He thought the makeout noise was a distress call,” she muttered, narrowing her eyes at the dragon. Tuffnut jogged in at that moment, and Hiccup rolled his eyes as the other immediately pulled out a notebook, looking eagerly between all of them.

“Okay, I need everyone to describe the growl using only farm animals. And the noise Hiccup made. For research.” They all promptly ignored him. 

Fishlegs came skidding up, eyes wide in a panic until he looked around at each one of them. Tuffnut, scribbling in his notebook about Thor knows what. Snotlout grinning like he just got crowned Chief of Berk. Ruffnut poking Hiccup, who kept swatting her hand away and avoiding eye contact with everyone. Astrid and Toothless’s staring contest that she was definitely losing. His eyes flicked between Hiccup, Toothless, and Astrid, and then zeroed in on Hiccup. “Did…” He squinted. “Did Astrid bite him?” 

“Yes!” Ruffnut confirmed happily, tugging Hiccup by the hand over to Fishlegs, who was far too intrigued by the mark. Hiccup scowled and tugged his tunic up, kicking lightly at Ruffnut, who simply danced out of the way.

“ It is not a big deal!”

Snotlout snorted, jerking a thumb over to Toothless. “Tell that to your angry girlfriend. And I don’t mean the blonde.”

Hiccup groaned again, scrubbing a hand over his face. “This is not how I imagined dying.” Toothless huffed in front of him, finally ceasing his growling once it became clear that Astrid wasn’t about to back down anytime soon. He kept his eyes on her, however, as though she might spontaneously grow claws. His tail coiled protectively around Hiccup’s foot, and Hiccup let out a weary sigh. He stepped closer, leaning over to pat Toothless’s side soothingly. “Hey, Bud. I’m okay. I swear. She just got… carried away. ”

Ruffnut snorted, and if Astrid wasn’t already trying to melt into the floorboards, he would have bet her axe would be flying towards Ruffnut’s head. Toothless simply huffed, clearly unconvinced. Hiccup guided his dragon’s face towards him, leaning in to press their foreheads together. “She’s not a threat. She’s my girlfriend. My… mate . We kiss. Sometimes we…” Oh Thor. “Sometimes we bite-” He ignored Snotlout’s pointed cough. “And that’s fine.” 

Toothless stared at him, and there was quite a bit of judgement in that stare that Hiccup did not appreciate. Like are you serious? But there was also concern there, and despite everything, Toothless’s concern for his wellbeing never failed to melt his heart. Are you really okay? His eyes seemed to be asking. 

Hiccup laughed slightly, stroking his nose. “And we love you for being protective, really we do. But maybe let’s not attack Astrid mid-kiss from now on, yeah? You can save those attacks for if Viggo ever tries to kiss me.” At this name, Toothless snarled, and Hiccup let out a real laugh, loud and unabashed. “Yes Bud, exactly.” 

Toothless blinked at him, seeming to search him another second longer. Finally, finally , he nudged Hiccup’s chest like perhaps he was searching for a heartbeat. Hiccup hugged him, pressing a kiss to his nose. “I’m fine, Bud. I promise.” Toothless looked him over once more, before relaxing, a low rumble in his throat. Then he turned his gaze on Astrid once again, and Hiccup held his breath. 

He stared at her for a second longer before padding over, as she eyed him warily. Toothless warbled once, the way he always did when he accidentally torched Hiccup’s bed, before butting her gently in the stomach with his face. She turned away and pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. He hit her once, twice, and she huffed out a laugh and a sigh, kneeling down to scratch him behind the ears in the secret spot only she had ever found.

“Alright, alright you big overprotective baby ,” she laughed lightly, kissing his nose as he chirped happily. “I forgive you.” She glanced back at Hiccup then, a smile turning her lips upward. Her eyes twinkled, and he couldn’t help the grin that overtook his own features at the sight. My two favorites. “We can share him.”

Chapter Text

It had happened far too fast. One second, he and Toothless were slicing through the air, blowing up another hunter shipment of dragon root arrows before they could be loaded onto the ships (and later used against his precious dragons). He was laughing, urging Toothless forward as they blasted crate after crate, the useless wooden pieces blasting open as he flew above it all. 

The next moment, they had dived towards one last shipment, bigger than the rest. And in hindsight, he should have known, should have seen it. The little details, the minute changes, the clever moves Viggo Grimborn always seemed to have up his sleeve whenever Hiccup thought he finally had him figured out. Toothless had blasted that final, larger crate - and had received a faceful of dragon root, hidden in some kind of exploding dust that smothered them. The noise Toothless had let out wasn’t one Hiccup had heard before - high-pitched, pain-filled, panicked . Hiccup had just barely managed not to choke on his own breath before Toothless’s body had jerked backwards, tail snapping against the shoreline trees.

They tumbled to the ground, rolling over each other before Hiccup fell flat on his back with a pained groan. Toothless lay a few feet away, pawing at his face and letting out wounded noises that cracked his heart the more he heard them. The teen scrambled to his feet, trying to shake off the haze of dragon root himself. It must have been a super-concentrated powder , he thought with despair, watching as Toothless wildly thrashed around, disoriented. His eyes had narrowed into thin slits, foam already dripping from his mouth, teeth bared. 

Hiccup had only seen him with that look once before, with the Grimora parasite. He had hoped he wouldn’t see it again. It looks like it’s just dragon-root though, so if I can get close enough to calm him down… Whatever he did, he knew he’d have to do it fast. They were still, after all, in dragon hunter territory. It was only a matter of time before one of the hunters who saw them go down (and there were quite a few of those) decided to hunt them down. Toothless was still jerking about, letting out those low crooning noises. 

The teen inched forwards, hand outstretched in the space between them. “Bud, it’s okay! It’s okay, you’re okay. Just some dragon root, Bud. It’ll pass, I promise.” Toothless continued to move, shaking his head violently. His eyes hadn’t changed, and there was no flicker of awareness or recognition in them. Hiccup’s heart sank. I need to snap him out of it. We need to get out of here. “Bud, I know it feels bad right now, but we need to leave-” Toothless was clawing at the ground now, paws swiping through the air as though fighting off dust particles only he could see. Then for one terrifying second, his eyes latched onto Hiccup. But not with any kind of recognition.

And then–

He lunged. Hiccup leapt back as fast as he could, hands still outstretched as panic laced his voice. “Bud, it’s me!” Toothless struck in a panicked frenzy, claws raking through the air in a violent swipe meant for anybody - anything - else. But it caught him. The claws sliced through Hiccup’s side – deep, sharp, and completely unintentional. Hiccup was thrown to the ground from the impact, groaning in pain as his hand automatically went to his ribs. He blinked in surprise as they came away red. 

He shifted, gripping the wounds with a wince as he sat up again, looking back towards his dragon. Toothless’s eyes seemed to have returned to normal, the snarling foam gone. The shock must have made it wear off faster. I’ll have to tell Fishlegs about that, he thought vaguely, sitting up and reaching out for Toothless with a bloodstained hand. “Bud…hey, Bud, c’mere .” 

But Toothless, eyes wide and glassy and oh so sad simply stared at him for a second, ears pinned back and wings tucked in tight to his body. He warbled, taking one step back, then another. Hiccup blinked in confusion, his head already growing a little fuzzy from the blood loss. “Where… where are you going? ”

But Toothless wasn’t listening to him. In fact, it didn’t appear as though Toothless was registering anything at all beyond the gashes on Hiccup’s side and the blood coating his hands. The same blood that lined Toothless’s claws. Hiccup saw it happen in real time. Toothless’s eyes flicked down towards his own paws, then back to Hiccup, then back down again. A second passed. Then two. Then Toothless practically stumbled back, letting out a tiny, broken sound. The kind Hiccup truly had never heard. The kind that split his own heart clean in two.

And then Toothless ran.  

Hiccup had scrambled to his feet, slipping in the grass slick with his blood, hand already outstretched and a strangled “ Bud, wait-” already on his lips. But it was too late. Toothless had already disappeared through the trees. 

It took barely a few minutes for Astrid and Snotlout to find him, landing hard with worried looks and shaking hands. Apparently the other riders had driven back the last of the hunters once he had crashed, and thank Thor for that because otherwise, Hiccup would be cursing himself for his stupidity in being so damn loud when hunters were nearby. Imagine if the hunters had found me instead of them. Or worse, found Toothless. 

Astrid and Snotlout had taken one look at him and the distinct lack of a Night Fury and had gotten to work. As Fishlegs and the twins drove the remaining hunters back, Astrid forced him to lie back with a firm hand. 

“But…but Toothless, Astrid he’s- he’s gone and I need to- I need to-”

“You need to shut up and let me wrap this injury before you bleed out, you utter muttonhead, ” Snotlout cut in, already reaching for the straps of his armor to peel it off of him as Astrid knelt at his side. She tilted his head towards hers, forcing his wide eyes to meet her own.

“Hiccup, breathe . Calm down and tell me what happened.” He took in a breath. Then two. And then told them everything. He barely felt Snotlout’s hands as they cleaned the claw marks from his side and wrapped them up in bandages that were just a touch too tight. Instead, he told them about shooting the largest shipment, about the powdered dragon root, about Toothless and him going down and Toothless going berserk, and then finally-

“You mean to say these are Toothless’s claw marks I just cleaned?” Snotlout repeated in disbelief, sharing a shocked look with Astrid as Hiccup swallowed, shifting to sit up a bit more. 

“He didn’t mean it! He was disoriented and aggressive and scared and he just lashed out. That’s all. You guys didn’t see him, he looked so guilty and terrified after and he saw the blood on me and his claws and then he just– he ran away. He could be anywhere on this island, grounded and alone, and I need to just find him–”

He groaned in pain, fingers clutching at the bandages that were slowly blossoming red as he struggled to his feet. The second he was standing, black spots blinked in his vision, and he swayed in place. No. No I need to find him, I’ve already lost so much time and he could be anywhere, hurt and scared and alone and-

“No fucking way, Hiccup.” Suddenly Snotlout had grabbed onto his left arm and Astrid was gripping his right. “You are not going anywhere.” 

He tried to struggle out of his grip, sending a scowl in Snotlout’s direction. “You don’t understand, Toothless is-”

“-going to be found when you aren’t in danger of collapsing, Hiccup!” Astrid finished, tugging gently on his arm. He whined, but let himself be moved to be sitting up against a boulder. Despite his efforts not to, a hiss of pain left his lips at the movement. 

“I have to find him!”

Snotlout let out a groan in frustration, pacing back and forth in front of him. “You are literally bleeding, Hiccup!” Behind him, Stormfly and Hookfang both growled their agreement, and a look to his side confirmed the same expression on Astrid’s face. Really, it’s uncanny how much their dragons look like their riders, he thought absently. I wonder if me and Toothless are the same way–

“I’m fine,” he insisted, shaking his head, even as his fingers pressed tightly against his still seeping wound. “He’s out there somewhere thinking he–” His voice cracked, and he looked desperately at his two friends. “He thinks he hurt me. That he- he failed. You know that’ll break him.”

At this, the other two hesitated, exchanging a look. He could pinpoint the moment both of their expressions softened. Snotlout kneeled in front of him, tightening the bandages around his torso without meeting his eyes. “You’re not walking anywhere alone.” Hiccup opened his mouth to protest, but paused, catching the small quirk of the other’s lips. ‘Alone’ being the key word.

Sure enough, Astrid gripped his shoulder, giving him a determined nod. “We’re going with you.”  

The forest was damp and quiet, the light thinning into a soft gray as clouds pulled over the cliffs. It had been almost an hour of walking around the island that, arguably, wasn’t all that big to begin with. Fishlegs and the twins had headed back to the Edge, and Astrid and Snotlout had stayed with him, Stormfly and Hookfang circling above for any sign of the missing Night Fury. It was times like this that Hiccup remembered how very good Toothless was at hiding when he didn’t want to be found. 

He hissed in pain as a particular step had a flash of pain shooting through his side, and despite himself, his fingers tightened from where they were clamped around his rapidly soaking side. Snotlout grumbled something under his breath about fucking stubborn twigs with no regard for their own safety even as he pulled Hiccup’s arm away from prodding at the wound and around his own shoulder, effectively dragging his stubborn ass along. 

Astrid walked steadily on his other side, one eye on him and the other scanning the surrounding areas for any signs of either hunters or for Toothless. Despite not having seen another hunter, her axe remained slung over her shoulder, and he was grateful for it. As much as he was loath to admit it, he likely would not be able to hold his own in a fight right now. Couldn’t even protect myself from Toothless. Or get him to stay.

As Astrid cleared another path through the forest, Snotlout gripped Hiccup’s arm a little tighter, muttering in (mock) annoyance when Hiccup hissed at the movement. “You’re insane,” he stressed. “You know what? We should be back on the beach where we found you, letting Toothless come to us. He’ll come back to you, you know he will.”

Hiccup just hung his head, trying very hard to focus on putting one foot in front of the other. Just a little longer. “He won’t,” he said simply. One more step. “He won’t come back until I show him I’m not afraid of him.” 

Astrid shifted closer to help steady him, clicking her tongue in displeasure at the increasing blood he was losing. She opened her mouth, likely to add onto Snotlout’s lecture ( the one time they both agree on anything and it's to gang up on me , he thought bitterly), but something else caught her eye and she darted ahead. Snotlout paused then, moving to maneuver Hiccup to sit up against a tree trunk. He didn’t argue. 

“We’re close,” she said sharply, her eyes already scanning the surrounding landscape. Hiccup held his breath, eyes darting around, hoping to catch a glimpse of something, anything. Come on, Bud. I know you’re here. You wouldn’t run that far. You wouldn’t leave me like that, would you? And then he saw it, the barest flicker of black against the pale brush. Then the mass was still, curled up just out of sight behind some bushes. Hiding. But those sharp green eyes that pierced through the gaps in the leaves were unmistakable. 

Hiccup sighed in relief, already moving forwards despite Snotlout and Astrid’s attempts to hold him back. Toothless was wedged between some trees, wings tucked tight, head buried low, as if trying to make himself smaller. His entire body trembled with each shallow breath. He looked as though he was ready to bolt, but somehow forced himself to stay, his own eyes locked on Hiccup’s with something akin to fear. But not fear for himself. Hiccup waved off Snotlout’s concern, taking a shaking step forward. Toothless flinched back, and his heart broke.

“Toothless…” he whispered, discretely trying to wipe the blood off his hand before extending it out, just like he had all those years ago. “Bud, it’s me! It’s just me.” He took another step, stumbling slightly when pain shot through his side, and he whined at the sensation. Immediately, Astrid caught his elbow, and Snotlout stepped closer. He shook his head then, shaking them both off and continuing on his own. He was dismayed to see Toothless had taken another few steps back. “Bud, please- you’re not gonna make me walk anymore, are you?”

Toothless crooned at that, low and sad. But mercifully, he stayed put, letting Hiccup get just that much closer. He lowered himself to a crouch, pain radiating from his side, before dropping to his knees in front of his dragon, who stared at him with wide eyes. He reached forward, his hand barely a breath away from Toothless’s nose. The other one still clutched at his side, trying to keep the blood from dripping. “Hey Bud,” he said softly, making comforting noises in the back of his throat. “I found you. You did a good job hiding from me though, huh?”

Toothless shifted at his words, letting out another mournful sound. His pupils were blown wide, so different from the slits that were there before, yet still unfocused. He looked up, gaze flitting over Hiccup’s form before they suddenly froze, along with the rest of him. Toothless had seen the bandage, likely already had smelled the blood. Then he whimpered. No growl. No snarl of defense. Just a broken sound of guilt, raw and sharp and utterly crushing. Toothless reached out with a paw and seemed to stop himself just before touching Hiccup.

Instead, he backed up another few steps, pausing only when Hiccup hastily went to follow and instead doubled over with the new wave of pain. Toothless seemed to realize how completely stubborn Hiccup could be. You’d think after all these years, Toothless would know that I’m not letting him get away from me that easily. Hiccup leaned forward instead, gritting his teeth against the burning in his side. All of that paled in comparison to the ache in his heart when Toothless wasn’t with him, anyway. He grabbed Toothless’s head, belatedly remembering the blood that coated his other hand. Oh well, he thought vaguely, closing his eyes and pressing his forehead to his dragon’s. His eyes were already stinging. 

“You didn’t mean to.” He let out a shaking breath, feeling the tremble in Toothless’s body all the way down his own. “I know you didn’t. I know you, Bud.” Toothless let out another low, agonized sound and curled forward. He nudged Hiccup to be sitting back in the soft grass, letting his own head rest in Hiccup’s lap. His wings wrapped around them both like he was trying to keep him there forever, safe and sound in his embrace. Hiccup leaned down, pressing a kiss to Toothless’s snout, stroking him gently. 

“I’m okay,” he whispered softly. “I came to you. You didn’t lose me. You could never hurt me. I love that you protect me, all the time. You even protected me from yourself, Bud. I love you. Okay? I love you. I am not afraid of you. Not now, not ever.” He was aware of Astrid watching them both from a few feet away, arms crossed over her chest and eyes shining with unshed tears. Snotlout had turned away completely, but he was sniffling as though it was just the wind making his eyes sting. Neither of them spoke, and neither of them dared to interrupt. This was between Hiccup and Toothless.

Toothless nuzzled into Hiccup’s chest, breath shallow and wet. He was oh so careful with the bandages wrapped around Hiccup’s side, licking lightly at the edges of the wound, trying to soothe him physically as Hiccup hoped his words could soothe the wound in his dragon’s heart. “You’re still my best friend. My whole heart, my whole life. You always will be. You will always protect me, just like I will always protect you. I promise, Bud.” He leaned down to rest his head against his dragon’s finally letting his own tears slip down his cheeks. I won’t lose you. Not like this.

They stayed like that for a long time.

Eventually, Toothless ended up curled protectively around Hiccup, pressing his head against his side so gently it was like he didn’t trust himself to exist too loudly. Hiccup stayed there, content to run his hands over Toothless’s side, keeping him close even as the scratches on his side pulsed. Finally, Astrid stepped forward carefully, kneeling beside them and touching Hiccup’s hand. “Are you both ready to come home?” Hiccup glanced back towards Toothless, meeting his bright eyes as the dragon let out a soft warble of affirmation.

“Yes, let’s go back home, Bud.” Toothless gingerly got up, pressing his face forward to give Hiccup something to hold onto as he slowly got to his feet, wincing as the bandages pulled at the movement. Snotlout came over, helping Astrid get Hiccup situated on Toothless’s back before she climbed on behind him. And so they went, walking one step at a time back to others, Toothless moving more carefully than Hiccup could ever remember him moving. But he felt every step like a promise.

He would always go back for Toothless. Because Toothless would always, always try to save him. Even when it hurt. Especially then. It’s you and me, Bud. Always.

Chapter Text

Toothless could smell it long before he saw it. The sharp, bitter sting of alcohol hanging in the air like smoke. Typically, he wouldn’t mind it. Not when it was accompanied by his boy’s flushed cheeks and easy laughter. Not when the conversations between the other riders were easy and light and happiness filled the air around a bright campfire. Not when he’d crinkle his nose at the acrid smell but walk slowly and steady nonetheless, helping his boy back to his hut when he stumbled and swayed. Not when he’d curl up in his own bed watching over his boy as he buried his face in his pillow and slurred his words, mumbling ‘ I love you so much Toothless, ya know that? You’re my best- best Bud. I mean- friend, Bud. I mean- I’m sleepy but I love you.’ No, Toothless didn’t mind the scent then.

But right now? He minded it very much. It soaked the entirety of Hiccup’s forge, heavy and foreign, as though someone had poured it by the bucketful. Or perhaps that was just the distinct scent of shame that had mixed with the alcohol. That was a scent Toothless knew far too well, unfortunately. Especially when it came to his beloved boy. The fire in the forge had long since gone out, but light still flickered faintly from a single lantern in the corner, casting looming shadows that danced across the clutter. 

The forge was silent. Too silent. And Hiccup hadn’t come home.

He had promised his girl - Astrid, the blonde shieldmaiden, his boy’s girl - that he would sleep early. That he would rest. That he would listen to the tremble in his hands and the pain behind his eyes and take care of himself . Toothless had watched as she had stood there in the doorway of the forge where Toothless stood now just a few hours ago, hands on her hips and that silent strength in her stance that he had come to know so well over the years. The strength that only came when dealing with something as stubborn as his boy.

“Hiccup, I mean it. You’re running yourself into the ground. Ryker is dead, Viggo is dead, you can rest now!”

“I know, Astrid. I know they’re dead.”

“Hiccup…you ended the war with the hunters! The fight is over. You did it! It’s all thanks to you.”

“Thanks to me. Perfect.”

“I don’t understand what’s going on with you, but…I’m here if you want to talk. If you need me to listen.”

“I’m fine, Astrid. You can stop worrying about me now.”

“Oh, I never stop worrying about you. That’s just the way it is.”

“Astrid-”

“Just promise me you’ll get some rest today. You’ll wrap up your project and go to bed soon.”

“I promise.”

Hiccup had turned away then, back to working on whatever new thing he was designing. Toothless had watched from his perch on the rafters as Astrid stood there a second longer, staring at his boy with sadness in her eyes. He didn’t see it. Toothless did. Then, she had turned to exit the forge, spotting him on her way out. She had smiled at him then, soft and gentle as she always was with him. “Keep an eye on him for me, will you, Toothless?” And he had chirped in response, telling her yes, of course. I always do.

But the sun had gone down, the fire had died, and Hiccup hadn’t come home. So, it was now up to Toothless to make sure he kept his promise. After all, when the shieldmaiden was mad, no one was happy. He slowly nosed open the door and stepped in carefully, making sure to enter quietly in case his boy was in the middle of a project. Granted, he didn’t hear anything, but they had had far too many instances over the years of Toothless surprising him by accident. Usually he dropped a hammer or tongs onto his foot - his metal foot, but again, one could never be too careful. He certainly didn’t need his boy losing another foot because of him. One was bad enough.

When he peered in, however, he didn’t find any of that. Some part of him had known, and yet- And yet. Hiccup was on the floor, slumped against the wall near the anvil. He was surrounded by broken glass and crumpled papers, scattered around him like he was the center of a cyclone. He hadn’t even taken off his armor yet, and dried blood lined his sleeve as soot smudged across his jaw. His left hand loosely gripped a half empty bottle like it was the only thing anchoring him to the world. And his right…

His right hand was bleeding.

In that moment, Toothless felt it again - that old and familiar ache in his chest. That pulse of utter helplessness he felt when Hiccup curled in like that. Like a wounded hatchling with no nest. It had been like that for years, starting from that very first day this boy with the big eyes and the pained heart had refused to kill him and Toothless had refused to kill the boy in turn. But lately, that feeling had been surfacing time and time again as his boy kept throwing himself into situations that caused him pain with reckless abandon. 

And it was up to Toothless to protect him. It was always up to Toothless. That was the deal. You protect me, Bud, and I protect you.

The time the twins and the short, loud one - Snotlout - had knocked him to the ground during sparring, laughing like it was a game, and his boy had smiled. He was always smiling, with dirt on his clothes and burns on his hands and bruises blooming on his ribs. “I promise I’m okay, Bud,” he’d said. “Just bruised pride.” But Toothless had stood over him, snarling until the other riders had backed away, daring anyone to touch him again. 

The time the old healer had poked too hard at a wound and Hiccup had hissed in pain, then bit down on it, burying the sound like pain was weakness. Toothless had burst into the hut, practically climbing the walls to get to him, protective and furious. His boy had only waved him off with a laugh, as he always did. “She’s not hurting me, Bud. She’s treating me.” And Toothless knew that, he did. But that hiss of pain from his boy was always in his nightmares, and he’d be damned if he let it happen again on his watch. Not again.

The time Stoick’s voice had shaken the rafters, booming with worry dressed as anger, and his fist had hit the table close - too close - to his boy. Hiccup had flinched , and Toothless knew that Stoick would never physically harm his son. He had seen proof of the immense love between father and son time and time again, and knew that the man had clearly learned from his mistakes in that arena all those years ago, the first time Toothless had stood between Hiccup and his father (and he knew, even then, it wouldn’t be the last). So yes, Toothless knew his boy was physically safe from Stoick. 

And yet, Hiccup had still flinched . Not because he feared the blow. No, his boy never had to worry about that, the man had made sure of it. But because he expected the disappointment as he had so many times for so many years. Like he had already failed and Stoick’s words were just confirming what he knew. But still, Toothless had stood between them that day, heart pounding, tail lashing, and one thing firm in his own mind - I’ll do whatever I need to in order to protect my boy. Meeting the eyes of the man, Toothless knew they both felt exactly the same. Nothing had ever, or would ever, connect Toothless and Stoick more than their mutual love for their boy.

And Hiccup had leaned down to Toothless, a soothing hand on his side and his voice soft in his ear as he confirmed, “He’s not going to hurt me. He would never hurt me.” But if one day he did…Toothless would be there, as he always was. Because Hiccup had a habit of making excuses for the world, every single time. Even when it hurt him. Even when it nearly broke him. Even when he failed to realize that his heart was just too good, too pure, too innocent.

Like that time Hiccup had trusted Dagur, when the two of them had been injured and trapped in that cave, surrounded by hunters. Toothless had had to fight the urge to rip the man’s throat out for every nervous flick of his hand as he treated the wounds on his boy. He had hated feeling so weak, so helpless that he couldn’t defend his boy properly, couldn’t fly him to safety. That he had to let someone like Dagur, a man who had hunted his boy (both in the real world and in the tortured screams he heard night after night for three years), actually touch his boy to heal him. Still, Toothless had stood guard. Shaking and exhausted and a little hazy, but ready to commit a murder if his boy so much as flinched back.

But no, his boy - his beloved boy - had simply soothed him gently, saying “It’s okay, I promise. I trust him.” Toothless didn’t trust Dagur as far as he could throw him (and it was far) . But he trusted his boy. And he would protect his boy. Against anyone and everyone. Because his boy would protect him.

Even when Toothless had threatened his own mate. 

That was…admittedly not his finest moment. It had taken a lot of nudges and whines and his best blinks of his big green eyes she loved so much for the shieldmaiden to forgive him that day. But in his defense, whenever his boy made that pained noise, it was simply instinct now to act and neutralize the threat…whatever it might have been. Granted, he should have known that his girl - his boy’s girl, now also Toothless’s girl, the shieldmaiden, Astrid - would never be a serious threat to his boy. After all, she loved him almost as much as Toothless did. Almost. And yet, he had stood before them like a sentinel, and while she had glared at him in hurt offense, his boy had simply laughed and kissed his nose, even as he had flushed as red as his shirt.

“I’m okay, Bud. I swear. She just got…carried away.” And Toothless had stared at him and the mark on his neck that made his boy hiss in pain when the girl twin poked and prodded at him and while he didn’t understand exactly, he had done his job. His boy wasn’t in any real pain nor danger. Not from those who loved him, at least. Like the shieldmaiden. Like Toothless. Or at least…that was until-

Until even Toothless had hurt him.

That had been one of the worst days of Toothless’s life. (Not the worst, though. Nothing could beat the day he had ripped his boy’s leg from him to save his life, and watched him suffer for years for that choice). That day played in his mind in his sleep, and he’d often jerk awake and pad over to his boy sleeping in his own bed, just to check that he was still here. Still breathing. Still alive. Still whole . Or…as whole as his boy could possibly be at this point in his far too short, far too painful life. 

He remembered it so clearly now. The dragon root. The rage. The blinding red that took over Toothless’s vision and had turned instinct into danger. The moment his tail had lashed and his claws had swiped and sent Hiccup tumbling to the ground. The acrid scent of blood in the air, coating his paws. Hiccup’s blood. His boy’s blood. The shock in his boy’s eyes as he stared at the one creature in this cruel, cruel world who had sworn to never hurt him - heart or mind or body. Toothless had broken that promise. I’ll always protect you , he had said. He had failed. 

And still. Still. Hiccup had come looking for him, a worried shieldmaiden and loud-one by his side. A bandage wrapped tight around his ribs. His hands soaked with his own blood. His too-thin frame stumbling after Toothless as he tried, tried to stay away, where he could watch over his boy but never hurt him again. But Toothless was weak. He couldn’t - can’t - stay away from his boy for too long. And so his boy had found him. Had forgiven him. Had held out his hand the way he had when he was so much smaller, but still just as fragile, and said “you will always protect me, just like I will always protect you.”

But now - how does Toothless protect him now? There was no one left to blame, no monster he could blast away, no danger he could scare off. No enemy in sight. No crisis to solve. Just Hiccup, his boy , sitting in a ruined forge, drowning in silence and drink, and finally, finally turning everything inward towards his battered and bruised and oh so soft heart. 

Toothless let out a soft noise, scenting ash and copper and salt and sadness and hurt . His tail lashed once behind him, thumping lightly against the edge of the door. Hiccup didn’t even look up. Toothless took a cautious step forward. Then another. He whined low in his throat - a question and a plea all rolled into one. Please look at me. Please put the bottle down. Please stop the blood. Please stop hurting yourself. Please let me protect you.

Hiccup laughed then, and Toothless pinned his ears back. It wasn’t the laugh Toothless loved. It wasn’t any of them. Not the bright, bubbling laughter that came when the loud one walked into a doorframe. Not the soft, shy laughter that came when the shieldmaiden kissed his cheek with a wink. Not the dry, sarcastic laughter that came when the twins pulled a prank that he pretended to hate. And not the utterly free laughter that only ever came when he and his boy were tearing through the sky, the world completely open to them and them alone.

No, this was a horrible sound. Small, brittle, frayed at the edges like a snapped bowstring. Like something inside him had been stretched out and twisted and pulled until he was broken too. Like he was breaking himself with every breath. Why are you so sad? What hurt you? Who hurt you? How can I help-

“They’re dead.” Toothless froze from where he had crept closer, and he peered into his boy’s bright green eyes. They weren’t sharp today. No, they were blown wide and hazed and so, so sad. “I watched Viggo fall into that volcano. He looked right at me. Even reached for me.” Hiccup’s voice cracked. “I tried to get to him, but- I let him go. I chose to. I could’ve… I don’t know. Tried harder. Done something. Anything . But I just stood there and watched him burn.”

The bottle slipped from his hand and rolled away, clinking once before hitting a table leg and stopping. Hiccup didn’t even seem to notice its absence. To be fair, he also didn’t seem to notice Toothless. His eyes were fixed at some point in the distance, maybe in the past. A view only he could see. Toothless desperately wished to see that view too, so he knew what was hurting him. So he knew how to help. But this wasn’t something he could protect his boy from. 

“I hated him,” Hiccup whispered. “He tortured dragons. He would’ve killed us all if he could. But in the end he was just… human . And I let him die. I let all of them die. Ryker. The others. And everyone just thanks me like I’m a hero.” Hiccup pulled at his hair with shaking fingers, leaving it wild and tangled. His voice was trembling. It’s not your fault. No one thinks it's your fault. “But I’m not. I’m not a hero. I’m just a scared kid who plays at being a chief because no one else will . Everyone sees me as this—this visionary, this leader, this savior. But all I see is the blood on my hands.” His voice had dropped to a ragged whisper.

“I let them die . I watched them die.” Toothless made a soft, aching noise in his throat and padded forward again. But Hiccup wasn’t done. Not even close. “I killed them.” His breath hitched. “I killed them, Toothless.” Hiccup lifted his head to look right into his green eyes, and Toothless’s heart broke at how empty those eyes he loved so much were in this moment. No light. No fire. No fury. Just shattered glass. “Maybe not with my blade, but with my choices. With my failure .”

And then his fist struck the stone floor with a sickening crack. Once. Twice. He choked on a sob as his hand splintered against it for what surely hadn’t been the first time that night. Still, he kept going until his skin split open once more, knuckles blooming red. The sour scent of blood filled the air again. Yet he didn’t stop. “I should’ve done more. I should’ve- should’ve-”

Toothless could bear it no longer. He was there in an instant, knocking the broken first gently aside with his snout and pressing his head against Hiccup’s chest, forcing him back with steady immovable weight. He curled a wing around him, dragging the other close the way he did so often when his boy couldn’t sleep alone in his too-big bed. When the world was too large, too dark, too scary. When Toothless could help only by reducing their world to just them. Hiccup and Toothless against the shadows. Against everything. He pulled his boy into him until Hiccup was completely enclosed - in warmth, in protection, in presence .

Not to stop a battle. Not to fight a threat. But to hold him still. To keep him from hurting himself any more than he already had. Thankfully, Hiccup didn’t resist for long. He gasped once, twice, and then caved in with a broken cry, crumbling into Toothless’s side like a puppet with the strings cut. He clutched at the dragon’s scales, trembling, and let the grief pour out in shuddering sobs. Toothless crooned softly and pressed in closer, licking over the bleeding wounds on his hands, the only ones he could actually reach. The others were too deep within him.

“I didn’t want them to die,” he whispered brokenly into Toothless’s neck. “I didn’t want to become this .” Toothless just curled around him even tighter, warbling softly into his boy’s hair and trying to provide what comfort he could. He didn’t know how to explain that he understood. That he didn’t need Hiccup to be perfect, or heroic, or blameless. That he didn’t care how much blood stained those hands, because they’d always been gentle with him. Because Hiccup had always only ever reached out with those hands to save , even when it meant hurting himself. Especially when it meant hurting himself. 

So, Toothless did the only thing he could. Protected him the only way he could. He just stayed . Silent. Solid. A barrier against the raging storm inside Hiccup’s mind. He kept his wings wrapped tight, pressed his forehead to Hiccup’s chest, kept his own breath steady, slow, anchoring. Eventually, after what felt like hours but really might have just been minutes, Hiccup stopped shaking. His body went completely limp, utter exhaustion taking over. His cheek rested against Toothless’s side, the tear tracks still damp. But Toothless didn’t mind. How could he?

His boy murmured something softly against his side. Toothless wasn’t able to catch the words, but he caught the ache in them. And still, Toothless didn’t move. Because this right here was the battle that mattered. Not fire. Not swords. Not death. This. The quiet war no one saw. The quiet war that his boy never let anyone see. Not his father. Not his mate. Not his friends. Just Toothless and him, as it had always been. As it would always be. 

And for this, Toothless would stand guard all night, and every night after, if he had to. And even if he didn’t. Because this time, the thing threatening Hiccup wasn’t a villain. It wasn’t a dragon, or a hunter, or even the world. It was the voice in his head. And if Hiccup couldn’t fight it himself, Toothless would. With soft noises and a winged embrace and his own soothing presence.

Until his boy could breathe again. Until he remembered who he was. Until he remembered he was loved.

The forge door hung slightly ajar. Astrid had noticed it first, that thin line of light flickering in the pre-dawn gloom. The others were only a step behind her, boots crunching against the gravel path as they approached, each of them restless, uneasy. Hiccup hadn’t been at breakfast this morning. Nor at dinner the night before. Nor in his hut when she had checked both times, with a gentle knock and lighter steps. Toothless was nowhere to be found either. It probably meant they were both still in the forge, which…okay, wasn’t ideal.

At first, no one had thought much of it. Hiccup often stayed up late in the forge, sketching, tinkering, lost in whatever idea had sunk its teeth into his thoughts. But this- this silence was different. Wrong. Astrid could feel it in her chest like a weight, had felt uneasy ever since early that afternoon when she had left Hiccup there in the first place, Toothless perched like a sentry on the rafters above.

“Oh, I never stop worrying about you. That’s just the way it is.”

“Astrid-”

“Just promise me you’ll get some rest today. You’ll wrap up your project and go to bed soon.”

“I promise.”

There had been something distinctly off about his words, but she had let him be. He got in those moods sometimes, regressing somewhere deep inside his mind in a place she could never quite reach. It never ended well when she tried either. So, when his tone took on that snappish quality that felt a little too frayed…she left him alone. He preferred it that way, anyway. At least, she thought he did. She tried to help but feelings were never quite her strong suit, and he wasn’t too inclined to talk about his own feelings either. So- 

So here she was now, pushing open the door to let the light in with the other riders shuffling behind her, all of them trying (and failing) to not look as concerned as they all felt. Where Hiccup goes, we go. Even if it's just the deep corners of the forge. But the moment the door swung open, the smell hit them. Bitter, fermented, coppery - and everything shifted. The world fell still. Inside, the forge was quiet, and broken. She took a hesitant step in, her heart clenching before she really even processed what she was seeing. Unfortunately, the sight wasn’t unfamiliar …yet it broke her heart all over again.

Glass shimmered across the floor like spilled stars, bottles half-empty or shattered. Puddles of drink caught the light of the nearly spent lantern, its weak flame casting trembling shadows against the walls. Tools and papers lay scattered in the mess, some bent, some crumpled, some blood-smeared. Blood? What happened in here?

Surrounded by the chaos like the eye of a hurricane sat Hiccup. He was on the floor near the back wall, slumped over like a tree that was left in the wreckage of a storm. But he wasn’t alone. Toothless was wrapped around him completely, wings arched like a fortress, body curled tight and low. His tail coiled protectively, his head tucked down so his brow pressed lightly against Hiccup’s chest, listening to his every breath as though terrified it might simply stop.  

One of Hiccup’s bloodied hands rested against his snout, limp but unafraid. Astrid didn’t even want to know how he got blood on his hands…and yet she already did. But it was okay, because Toothless was there . And he was awake, eyes flicking between his sleeping ward and the rest of them. But this time, he wasn’t watching them as a warning. He was watching them as a promise.

I’ve got him. I won’t let anything happen to him. I’ll protect him.

Astrid stepped forward, slow, reverent. She didn’t speak. None of them did. They could see it all, clear as day. They saw the blood on Hiccup’s knuckles. The tight lines of exhaustion still etched into his face. The faint tracks of dried tears. And in Toothless’s stillness - in the way he held him - they saw everything else. Everything they hadn’t seen before. Everything Hiccup never would let them see. 

Everything Toothless needed them to see. 

Behind her, Fishlegs swallowed hard, guilt flickering across his features. Snotlout looked away. Ruffnut and Tuffnut, for once, didn’t say a word. She stepped forward then, aware of the way Toothless’s eyes seemed to track her every movement. She dropped to one knee beside them, not touching, just close enough to feel the warmth radiating off the dragon’s side. She reached out, and rested her fingers against Toothless’s flank.

“Thank you,” she whispered. It held the weight of years of protection, of support, of love. Because before there was a Hiccup and Astrid, there was a Hiccup and Toothless. And she knew, deep in her heart, that even if there comes a day where there is no longer a Hiccup and Astrid (though there wouldn’t be, couldn’t be, she wouldn’t let it be), there would still always, always be a Hiccup and Toothless. 

Toothless, for his part, didn’t blink. He just kept his head pressed close to Hiccup’s. Kept breathing with Hiccup. For Hiccup. Slowly, one by one, the others filtered out, leaving them be. The chores and patrols of the Edge could wait. They didn’t speak. They didn’t offer help. Because they knew as certain as the sun would rise again that if there was one truth that had never changed - not through war, not through fire, not through heartbreak - it was this:

Toothless would always be here. Protecting him.