Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

They had been flying for the whole morning, and it was already afternoon, but there wasn't a sign of land in miles. Only the endless sea and the sky, as calm and sunny as ever, surrounded them. Sweet little breeze was messing with their hair.

- Are we there yet? - Snotlout asked, irritated. This flight was starting to tire him out. And Hookfang's rumbling stomack indicated no one's eaten anything since breakfast.

- I believe it's just a few miles away, - Fishlegs answered quite anxiously, as if he was starting to doubt it.

- It looks like we'll just never find this island.

- Stop acting like a child, Snotlout! - Astrid shouted angrily to him. - You've been complaining for nearly half of our flight! I'm pretty tired myself, but at least I don't say it aloud every five minutes.

- Yeah, and if that island didn't really exist, - Hiccup took a map of the surrounding area out of his bag, - it wouldn't be shown on maps at all.

The island our gang of six 19-year-olds was talking about is called "The Mountain of Black Lightnings". "Black Lightning" is the name locals gave to Night Furies. It's shown on all of the maps in this area with an "Avoid at all costs!" sign under the name, for its inhabitats blast any unlucky ship that happenes to swim too close to its shores.

Everything started about two days ago. Hiccup, Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut visited one of the towns in the neighbouring archipelago to search for any unknown species of dragons, just like Stoick told them. In there, Snotlout managed to win in some sort of a game at the local fair and he recieved an amber as a prize. Fishlegs claims it to be the legendary Dragon Jewel, but no one, except for Hiccup, believes him.

The next day, in one of the libraries, Astrid found a book about local dragons, from which the gang finds a lot of new information. Some of the pages were about Black Lightnings. When Hiccup and Fishlegs came across them, they were shocked. Clear drawing of Night Furies was placed on the page along with all of the stats, including their habitat - a middle-sized island with a huge mountain. The map showed that it was rather far away from where they were, but Hiccup was determined to go there as soon as possible.

Now all six of them were following the map he took from there, more than halfway behind, but still without any idea how many miles there's left to overcome.

- Just give up, guys, - Ruffnut groaned, all of her enthusiasm completely gone. - We'll never get to that mountain of yours.

- At least someone agrees with me, - Snotlout exclaimed proudly.

- Sea... Water... Waves... - Tuffnut was muttering to himself, looking around from right to left, bored to death. - Water... Sea... Sea... Mountain... Sky... Waves... Wait, what?!

He peered into the horizon. There really was a tall mountain in the distance.

- Hey, guys! Look over there! - the long-haired blonde boy yelled to others, pointing his finger into the direction of the island. Hiccup took out a spyglass and looked through it.

- Is that what I think it is? - Astrid looked hopefully at the scrawny-looking boy, who looked at the map he held in his left hand, then through the spyglass, then back at the map few times in a row. In the end he finally let out a sigh of relief.

- Yes, Astrid. This is it. The Mountain of Black lightnings.

As they flew a little closer, the island turned out to be quite beautifaul, just like its picture on the map. There was a small forest on its left side and an open valley on the right. A waterfall, falling from a rocky side of the mount, transformed into a small river as it peacefully flew through the island into the sea.

- Well, isn't it just amazing? - Fishlegs said, admiring the view.

- Heh, I knew we're gonna find it sooner or later, - Snotlout looked at the rest proudly, but recieved only sceptic lookes from Hiccup, Astrid and Fishlegs. - What?

- I'm finally here? I can't believe it! - Ruff's energy started flowing back into her. - I must be dreaming! Am I dreaming?

As soon as she finished the last sentence, her twin hit her on the shoulder, on which she responded with a quick and loud "Ow!".

- Nope, you're awake! - Tuff brightly answered her question.

Hiccup looked forward to landing, and his eyes were fuul of excitement and curiosity. He leaned to Toothless's head and said quietly:

- Here we are, bud. Just a little bit more, and you'll be able to reunite with your family in no time.

His black-scaled friend responded with a low growl of agreement. Frankly, that's the main reason why Hiccup decided to go to Mountain of Black Lightnings - his belief that his best friend's family is still there, waiting for him.

A huge smile crossed the brown-head's face. But for a split second he thought he could sence something coming from Toothless. Was it... fear? Young Viking shook his head slightly in disbelief. He was probably just imagining stuff.

After about 5-7 minutes the island was in its full view. The mountain really was huge, filled with caves on each and every side. And two adult Night Furies were flying not so far away from it. Even though they were pretty close to the island, they could easily spot the other dragons, and their riders as well. The gang, remembering the stories about blasted ships, leaned themselves closer to their dragons, and Fishlegs was meanwhile quietly praying to the gods that he wouldn't get noticed. Fortunately, Night Furies didn't pay much attention to the visitors and flew away as quickly as any of their kind should.

- Must've been patrolling their territory, - Astrid suggested.

They landed at the river bank near the forest. For the first time since Hiccup and everyone left that town, they could finally take a rest and have a meal. Boys were busy fishing while girls collected berries and mushrooms. After half an hour, all the dragons and humans were fed, and now were relaxing in the grass under the afternoon sun.

But something couldn't escape Hiccup's mind. Toothless has been acting strange ever since they landed. He didn't participate in anything, staying in the shadows of the trees. Worry was written all over his face. Hiccup expected his best friend to be in the seventh heaven, but it all turned into the exact opposite. What could make him act like that?

But then Astrid snapped him out of his thoughts by kicking him on the stomack. Lickily for Hiccup, it wasn't as painful as when she slugged him with her axe on the first day she met Toothless.

- Come on, Hiccup. I found a way to get up the mountain. It's time to go.

The brown-head got on his feet half-heartedly and followed the blondie. Toothless went behind him. Soon they came to a wide pathway, leading to the numerous caves.

- Alright, buddy, we'll stay here and... Toothless?

The dragon was gone! Vanished like a ghost.

- Where did he go? I remember him following me.

- I don't know, he wasn't with you when ya came, - Tuffnut replied, from his look it seemed he didn't really care if Tootyhless was around or not.

Hiccup was worried for his dragon. It doesn't look like him at all! Without a second thought he jolted away to find him.

- Hiccup, wait, where are you... - Astrid was just about to stop him, but he was already out of sight, hidden among various trees and bushes. - ...going?

- He's not a bad runner, well, for a cripple, - Chuckling, Snotlout crossed his arms on his chest. The next thing he knew was that he was brutally smashed on the back of his head by a certain blondie.

Chapter Text

- Toothless! Toothless, where are you? - Hiccup was calling to his friend, but recieved no responce. He was now holding an amber in his hand, the very same amber Snotlout won at the fair.

Remember I mentioned it at the beginning of my story? It's a rather beautiful gem, about the size of Ruffnut's palm, with a faint image of a dragon embedded inside. The dragon had all the typical features: two horns on its head, huge bat-like wings, four paws with sharp claws, in other words - all what you usually imagine when you hear a word "dragon".

And do you know why only Hiccup believes Fishlegs about it being the Dragon Jewel? It's because of an accident in which the brown-head discovered this gem worked as a two-way translater: whenevr he was holding it in his hand, he could understand every single word the huge winged reptiles said, and vice versa. Though he never told anyone about it: probably he didn't want to sound crazy.

But let's get back to the subject.

Hiccup, after a few minutes of walking, stumbled across a big cave in the base of the mountain. And there was Toothless! Young Viking was just about to come closer and happily scratch him behind his ear when the Night Fury's downed look stopped him. His friend has layed his head onto his paws, half-closed eyes staring into distance. Hiccup's mood went downright horrible, seeing Toothless like this made him feel he was full of rocks that were pulling him down.

- Hey, bud, you okay? - the brown-head asked worriedly.

- I'm fine, Hiccup. Just leave me alone for a while, - his dragon answered dryly.

- No, you're not fine, I see it. Something's troubling you. What happened?

- Everything's alright, I swear. I just... don't feel like going.

- That's not an answer. Come on, they're your family. Why don't you want to? - Hiccup looked at Toothless in a quiet begging manner, but the dragon only went deeper into the cave. Young Viking felt even more awful. What could've happened so horrible that he can't tell even his best friend about it?

- Why don't you tell me what happened? And I'll try to help you if I can. Please. I only want to help you.

The last words of his rider made Toothless think about it a little. Hiccup always accepted his help whenever he had problems. Why should he refuse now, after everything he's done? Besides, he's kept this secret inside him for so long... Maybe now's the right time to to finally let this stone fall off his shoulders?

- I... I don't want to... - Toothless started unsurely as he exited the cave. - Because of my parents. I'm afraid to go back... Afraid to look into their eyes... Since I ran away from home...

- So it really is your home! - Hiccup shouted excitedly. He was right! This island is Toothless's home! But one other word caught his attention. - Wait, what do you mean by "ran away"? What happened?

- I... I don't want to tire you with a sob story of a poor little Night Fury, that's a little... that's a little bit of a downer.

Hiicup came closer to the boulders near the entrance of the cave and sat on them casually, his shoulders leaning to the warm from the sun, grey surface of the mount, eager to listen. Suddenly, a tiny question popped up in his mind.

- Hey, bud, I just wanted to ask... Since you lived here some time ago... Do you remember your real name?

Toothless lowered his eyes.

- No, actually... I've been called a "Night Fury" for so long, I forgot what it was.

Then he turned to his human.

- So, you gonna listen or not?

Young Viking didn't really need to answer, his whole body was saying "Ready to listen".

The black-scaled reptile curled on the brown forest soil, facing the boy. With a heavy sigh, he started his story. Probably a long and sad one.

- Yes, this piece of land is my home. But I never thought of it as such. And still don't. My childhood here wasn't... very pleasant.

Hiccup raised his eyebrow, speechlessly asking "Why?"

- All Night Furies pass Survival Courses, where we learn to fly, hunt and breathe fire. And among all the other kids, I was the worst. Training went really tough to me: no matter how hard I tried, no matter how many times I practised on my own, I always was the last one to learn everything. So it's nothing surprising I had no friends and everyone started making fun of me.

Young Viking felt sorry for his dragon friend. It so reminded him of himself when he was a child...

- My parents always told me it wasn't important at all, - Toothless continued his heartfelt story, - that they loved me for who I was, but... For me, it seemed they wanted me to be better... To be like everyone else. So I kept training by myself and from time to time I tried to get at least a little attention. Unfortunately, it didn't help often.

At first Hiccup wanted to give him some support, to comfort him, to make him feel better, but made up his mind at the last minute. Of course, Toothless needed all of this, but not now, later, when he finishes his story. Right now he needs someone who could listen to him, whom he could pour out his heart to. So it wouldn't be wise to interrupt him.

- This place was visited by many other dragons every once in a while, - Toothless smiled a little at the memory of Nadders and Changewings having a rest on the nearby grass field. - Some of them were nice... Some - well, not really. Speaking of them, do you remember the Whispering Death which once attacked us on Berk?

The brown-head nodded agreeably. He still remembered that day. And how he tried in vain to help his dragon, but he didn't accept it until the end. Hiccup frowned at that memory, unnoticably.

- Well, we met here when I was a kid. A group of Whispering Deaths lived not very far from us. He was about my age as well. And he wanted to steal all of our fish! Of course I couldn't let this happen. I did my best to make him go away, but eventually our conflict turned into a fight. During the battle I bit him, quite powerfully if there's still that scar on him.

"So that's where it came from!" - Hiccup thought to himself. This question bothered him fora pretty long time. - "But wait, if this island is so far from the nearest town that it took us the whole morning to get here, how did a Whispering Death find its way to Berk?"

Poor guy. The only thing he can find as greatly as answers for questions is more questions.

Toothless's biography went on.

- Soon adults came and stopped our fight. That Whispering Death dissapeared under the ground as soon as he could. And I thought: finally, my chance to show everyone I was worth something! I was able to fight off another dragon by myself! And I saved our precious piles of food!

Hiccup chuckled a bit. His best friend was quite a prideful kid, no doubting that!

- But I only got into more trouble. My parents were pretty mas at me because, as they said, it had been a foolish idea to handle it all on my own instead of warning the others, or something like that, I don't remember now, but the meaning's the same. Any way, I was grounded for the next few days. I was so furious: I helped them all, I saved them from starvation, and what do I recieve? Gratitude? Respect? Love? Nothing but punishment! And so I sweared to myself: as soon as the last dragon falls asleep tonight, I'll leave this place. Forever. If they don't really need me, fine then! Let it be so.

Hiccup crossed his arms on his chest, giving his friend a "You shouldn't have done that" look.

- Oh, stop looking at me like that! - Toothless replied defensively. - Kids tend to do things without thinking of the consequences, am I right? Besides, I betcha you sometimes thought of this yourself.

Young Viking lowered his eyes.

- Yeah... - he almost muttered as memories of him being an outcast among all the other children ran across his mind. - ...Just never got a chance to.

- Lucky you, - the Night Fury smirked, in his mind, meanwhile, regretting his own stupid decision to run away.

- So, what happened next?

Chapter Text

Toothless shook his head a bit, and his biography continued.

- Later that day, as soon as the last Night Fury drifted into the world of dreams, I tiptoed my way out as quietly as I could. Then I unfolded my wings and with a "Farewell, everyone" thought started rising into the night sky. I didn't really know nor care where I flew, the only thing I wanted was to get away, as far away as possible. I guess my mind went a little black at that point, 'cause the next thing I knew was that I woke up in an unfamiliar place, my whole body aching like never before. At first it was like a dream came true: after my legs stopped aching I caught my own breakfast in a lake, had a rest and explored a little. But when a seashore came to my view, my dream turned into a nightmare. I finally realised I had no idea about how I appeared here and how I was supposed to go back: there was nothing but sea around, and I couldn't fly to my island because I didn't know where it was; none of the Night Furies actually left their home, they said it was too dangerous. I finally understood: it was the biggest mistake of my life, but, unfortunately, when this realisation came to me, it was already too late. Feeling helpless, I simply lay onto the ground and cried.

In the middle of the story Hiccup's mind returned back to the Whispering Death Toothless told him about earlier. "Must've stumbled across Berk by accident," - Hiccup thought. He only wanted to throw it out of his mind. If a little Night Fury was able to travel such a distance, can't a Whispering Death do the same?

The black-scaled reptile kept on his sad story.

- And because there wasn't much I could possibly do, I simply flew from one island to another, hoping to find a place where I could stay. Unfortunately, it was either unsuitable for me, or other dragons didn't allow me to. It went on for days, I was tired, I wanted to go home. Think for yourself: what would a young kid want at a situation like that? I was about to give up and stay at the first piece of the land I see. Then it came into view...

The answer was clearly too obvious.

- The Dragon Island?

Toothless nodded approvingly.

- Yes, this deadly volcano, surrounded with liveless piles of rocks. I happened to come across it when its residents were ewturning from one of their raids. Curious about where they were going, I followed them through the wall of fog. Flying seemed to last forever, until we entered the volcano. I was amazed: I've never seen so many dragons in my life! After flying around a little, I found a small edge for myself and did nothing but watched everyone drop their food down the endless hole. At first it was completely surprising to me: if it was all their prey, why don't they eat it then? Only when that "monster" rose its head from the hollow I found an answer.

Hiccup felt like his whole inside has twisted. The Red Death was the worst creature he's met in his life; just mentioning it made him feel sick, and pain, rising from his left leg at those dreadful memories, made it all even worse.

- Ugh, don't remind me.

- Heh, I'm glad you're listening, for a split second I thought you weren't, - Toothless smirked. Hiccup frowned but didn't say anything. - Now, where was I? Oh, right! Some dragons called it "Queen", some - "Chief", and they often argued about it. Personally, I never cared about that, "monster" didn't deserve a title at all, in my opinion. And, of course, it noticed me sitting on one of the edges and asked me what I was doing there. Stammering a bit from fear, I answered that I had gotten lost, couldn't find my way home and I needed a place to stay in. "Monster" said to let it think about it. Just then, some Zippleback teens started bullying me. Hot-headed as I was, I blasted few fireballs at them. My exploding fire made quite an impression on all of the dragons, including the "monster". So it offered me a deal.

- What kind of deal? - Hiccup couldn't resist from asking.

- As long as I helped the others with their raids, I could call that island "home". And so I stayed there. And you know what happened next.

Young Viking nodded his head agreeably.

It was one breathtaking biography. And also sorrowful... As it turned out, these two have more in common than they thought. Both of them were social outcasts among the rest of their kind, and in each other they found a friend they've been longing for.

All of asudden a little question arised in the boy's head.

- Hey, just out of curiosity: how old were you when you, well, ran away?

Toothless was silent for a few moments, deep in his memories.

- Um, about five or six years, I can't say for sure.

"Wow.." - Hiccup's eyes slightly widened in surprise. - "Away from home for 20 years... If I was him, I'd be afraid too, no doubt about that!"

- Now, once again, I'm here, - the black-scaled reptile looked around himself. - You understand now why I don't want to go? I'm afraid. Simply afraid. After all there years... What will they say? What will they think of me when they see I tied my life to a human?

He looked sadly at his bright-red artificial tailfin with a white horned skull on the top. Toothless then put his head onto the ground, closed his face with his tail and quietly whispered:

- Everything's so complicated...

Pity for his friend filled the boy's soul at once. Now it was the perfect time to give him some mental support. He needs it more than anything else...

As he jumped off the rocks, Hiccup came closer to his dragon, gave him a friendly hug and scratched behind his ears a little.

- I know what you feel there, bud. I know you're afraid, but you can't let fear overcome you. Besides, you won't know until you try.

- What do you mean?

- I mean you should go and see you prents. I'm sure they'll be more than happy to see you again.

- I'm not sure... How will I explain them I'm not who I used to be anymore?

- Believe me, Toothless... - Hiccup's mind drifted back to his father, Stoick the Vast, chief of their tribe, and what he might've thought of his son. The boy tried to remember anything about their relationship, before and after the fateful day when Vikings made peace with dragons, watched them in his mind at different angles and points of view. He now took it all differently than when he was a child or a teen. Slowly but surely the right words found their place in his head.

- No matter how parents act towards us, fair, in our opinion, or not, they'll always love and care about us. Maybe they're too strict with us sometimes, maybe they're overly protective, whatever they do, they do it out of love. And if your parents - I certainly believe it - are as loving and caring as you remember them, they will forgive you and accept you for who you are now. Trust me, buddy. They'll understand.

Toothless raised his eyes and looked at his human. He's right... Thinking from their point of view, his father must be regretting being so strict to him... What if they 've been waiting for him to return for all these 20 years...

- You think, Hiccup? - he asked uncertainly.

- I'm sure of it.

The black-scaled animal now felt a lot better. With such an awesome friend by his side, whom he can have a heart-to-heart talk with, nothing seemes impossible.

Getting back on his feet, Toothless gave his human friend a little nudge with his node.

- Thank you. You're a great listener. And a great advise-giver.

- Always glad to help.

Now our Night Fury made his way to another path to the mountain, not far away from the cave. Still nervous about the meeting with the rest of his kind, he tried to relax and calm himself down.

- What will be... will be.

- Hey!

The dragon turned his head to aee the brown-head waving his hand to him.

- Good luck, buddy.

- Thanks, Hiccup, - a smile crossed Toothless's face.

Soon he disappeared behind not so numerous bushes, deep into the mountain. Hiccup was on his way to go back, but, after a second thought, he went up the very same pathway his friend took moments ago. But he didn't follow him, no, he stayed among the bushes, not moving anywhere, gripping the Dragon Jewel tightly in his hand since the talk, not noticing Astrid and others, who were already fed up waiting for him and Toothless to return and went off searching for them. He couldn't see what was taking place, but he could hear it all. Hear his best friend say:

- Mom, Dad... I'm back.