Chapter Text
Hiccup lost count of how many times he’s nearly died. As his father, Stoick the Vast, often put it, it’s an occupational hazard that comes with their lifestyle. Vikings often have many dangers to answer to, but none more dangerous than the dragons. If Hiccup thought precariousness had been an issue before he befriended Toothless, well, he certainly hadn’t known what laid ahead of him.
Since his initial meeting with his dragon companion, Hiccup found himself in a multitude of near-death experiences. Most of them consisted of him dropping from the sky, wind rushing noisily past his ears and stealing away his screams before he could hear them. Some other ones that brought him too close for comfort to the doors of death typically included the added factor of an angry dragon out for his skin. Those weren’t his fault most of the time, but he couldn’t deny that his curiosity hadn’t led him into the caverns of a particularly irked dragon before.
This, however, was my fault, he thought as he plummeted towards the island below him, green trees growing increasingly large in his vision.
Stupidly, he had been lost in thought when it happened. On one of his afternoon flights with Toothless, Hiccup had steered them in a direction they hadn’t traveled before. Wondering if he would discover anything other than the open ocean, Hiccup had let his mind wander. The soothing wind in his face had relaxed him and he let himself close his eyes for a moment—just feeling.
He opened them when a cry of alarm had sounded in front of him, catching sight of another boy aboard his own dragon. He was unfamiliar, but looked to be around Hiccup’s age, with startlingly white hair. The dragon he sat upon looked strikingly similar to Toothless, except for its coloration and patterns. It almost reminded Hiccup of the grey rocks he would see scattered by the jagged cliffs of Berk.
Must be for camouflage, he thought to himself, right before colliding with the side of the said dragon.
The impact was close to inevitable, as the pair had somehow snuck up close to them while Hiccup was unaware. He had nudged Toothless to the left, and seen the other rider do the same, but the sides of their dragons still collided. It wasn’t hard, but there was enough momentum in the crash to send Hiccup flying off of Toothless’s back.
From there, Hiccup and Toothless careened in different directions. Hiccup flailed in the air, tossed and thrown this way and that. Below him, he spotted an island. It looked to be on the smaller side, so maybe that was why he hadn’t spotted it before closing his eyes.
“Toothless!” he shouted, but it was no use. He saw Toothless above him, wriggling in the air and trying to turn his body towards Hiccup. Even if he had managed that, they were too far apart to reach each other.
“Skragg!” another voice called, and before Hiccup to turn his head and see who had said it and what was happening, he was yanked up by his shirt. The talons that had drug their way into his clothes swung forward, then back, and repeated the motion once more before tossing Hiccup in an arc above the dragon's head. He landed awkwardly on the grey dragon’s back, right behind the white-haired rider.
Paying no attention to the passenger behind him, the boy patted the dragon’s neck.
“Go get him, Skraggfire,” he said to the dragon—Skraggfire, Hiccup presumed—right before they dove steeply for where Toothless was still falling. Hiccup, still awkwardly angled on the dragon’s back, yelped as they sped downwards. With a jolt of confusion and worry, he realized there was no saddle on the dragon; this rider, whoever he was, was riding bareback. With no other choice, he quickly grabbed ahold of the rider’s waist, hoping he wouldn’t shove him off. He had, after all, just saved him from free-falling to his death.
Toothless must have heard them coming, because he stopped moving around as Skraggfire approached, using its limbs to wrap around Toothless’s torso. Skraggfire’s wings beat furiously on either side of Hiccup, but even so he could tell that two boys and a night fury were too much for it to carry. And so, Hiccup found himself screaming again as they made their emergency landing in a dense patch of bushes.
Branches and drying leaves scratched at his face, pelting him from left and right. Below him, Toothless grunted, surely getting the worst of the fall. When they finally hit the ground, it was sideways, with Hiccup and the other rider sliding off Skraggfire’s back and tumbling onto the ground below.
Hiccup groaned and spit out a few leaves that had found their way into his mouth on the way down. He knew the taste of dirt would linger in his mouth long after, but that was the least of his worries at the moment. A very angry sounding boy was brushing leaves and debris out of his hair and clothes—which Hiccup found peculiar as well.
The rider didn’t bother with Hiccup at first as he thought he would, turning instead to his dragon and ensuring it was safe. Now that he was closer to it and it wasn’t a blur of grey movement, Hiccup could see ‘it’ was really ‘she.’
Hiccup followed the boy’s lead and checked on Toothless, relieved to find him smiling his signature toothless smile at him. He was hardly scuffed and would be fine. All in all, the four of them had been pretty lucky.
It was just as Hiccup let out a sigh of relief that the other boy turned his fury towards him. Hiccup realized he had stunningly blue eyes, like Astrid’s but paler—icier. Astrid’s eyes used to remind Hiccup of lakes, but this boy’s eyes resembled pieces of shattered brinicles placed together in a circle.
“Is this your first time flying? Do you realize how dangerous it is to fly with your eyes closed? Especially with a dragon like yours—he relies on you to be able to steer. Without your little makeshift tail, he’s a dead dragon. You would’ve been dead too if Skraggfire hadn’t helped,” he fumed, ears turning slightly pink at the tips. Hiccup would have laughed or pointed it out any other day, but even he had enough sense to know now was not the time.
“Sorry about that,” he said, holding his hands in front of him. “I didn't think there would be anyone out here other than Toothless and I; I let my guard down.”
The boy glared at Hiccup for a moment longer before relenting.
“Alright,” he sighed. “Sorry to be so hard on you about that. I just don't like putting Skraggfire in danger. Plus, we hardly ever crash nowadays so I guess I just… overreacted a little.” He patted Skraggfire's neck dotingly and she nudged him with her head. “Anyway, you're probably more upset about this than I am; you are the one who just almost died.”
“Eh,” Hiccup shrugged, “to be honest, Toothless and I are used to it.”
“Used to it?”
“We tend to find ourselves in, er, many sticky situations.”
The boy made a face at that.
“So you're saying you consistently put yourself and your dragon in danger like that?”
“Well, I wouldn't say I put us in danger, specifically.”
The rider gave him an unimpressed look.
“No, really. Trouble likes following us wherever we go. Isn't that right, bud?” Toothless did his dragon impression of a smile and shook his body like a dog shaking off stray droplets of water. Hiccup would take that as the confirmation it was.
The rider didn't answer, turning his attention now to Toothless. He stepped forward, putting an open palm against Toothless's head. Hiccup almost wanted to protectively swat the hand away, but he kept himself still; it was unlikely this stranger wanted to do anything bad to them, he would have already if he had wanted to.
The rider closed his eyes and his eyebrows furrowed.
“Huh,” he said after a few moments, icy irises making an appearance again. “Quite a lot of trouble indeed.”
Hiccup was quiet, unsure what to say to that, as the boy stepped back and mounted Skraggfire.
“I won't bother you any more, but please do try to be cautious in the future. It's rare for Skraggfire to see one of her own, and it would be a shame if Toothless perished simply because of his rider's incompetence.” With that, he leaned down, whispered something to Skraggfire, and took off into the sky again. Hiccup and Toothless watched their retreating backs until they were a small blip in the sky.
“What a weird guy, right?” Hiccup said to Toothless, who simply stuck his tongue out and cocked his head to the side. Hiccup rubbed him behind the ears absentmindedly. “I wonder where he and Skraggfire came from. Did you see them in front of us earlier, buddy?” Toothless gave a shake of his head. “He also said something about you being one of Skraggfire’s ‘own.’ What’s that supposed to mean? And where would other dragon riders come from if not from Berk?” he mused.
Toothless gave a snort and Hiccup realized he must be wanting to get back; the sky was beginning to turn a light pink color, indicating a nearing sunset.
“Alright, alright, let’s get home,” Hiccup relented, getting on Toothless’s back again. There was no point in wondering about the mysterious rider.
After all, he thought as he and Toothless took off into the sky once more, it’s not like I’ll ever see him again.