Chapter Text
When Hiccup was just a babe, a dragon had stood over him, wings outspread and jaw opened wide. Before the dragon could eat him, his mother swooped in the room, rushing towards the dragon with all the might of a viking.
He lost her that day. It's the story his father told him growing up, the reason Hiccup knows his father won't accept dragon riding. It's the reason he leaves Berk, pushing Toothless to continue going even as he looked back at the slowly fading Berk.
Stoick the Vast had lost too much from dragons to even think of accepting them back in his life. Therefore, Hiccup must be the one to leave. It figures, all the time he spent trying to fit in, just to leave before the moment he could prove himself as a viking. To do the greatest honor, killing a dragon as prophesied by the village elder.
"I still got you, don't I bud?" Hiccup murmurs, leaning flat against Toothless' back as he rubs along the dark scales. Toothless makes a low sound that Hiccup takes as agreement, sighing as he shuts his eyes.
He'll never be allowed back on Berk again. Not after Astrid goes and tells everyone of his meetings with dragons, and, in the end, it's probably for the best. At least, he tries to reason to himself.
Dragons have no place with vikings, and neither does Hiccup.
"WOO!" This is the Edge. Hiccup straightens himself along Toothless back, helmet in place as he looks down over the island, "you got another round in you?" Toothless warbles and Hiccup laughs. "Yeah, yeah. I know you do. Come on!"
Toothless dives and Hiccup leans with him as they speed past the edge of the island, dropping a hand down to skim across the water. A haven for dragons. A caw gets Hiccup's attention as he looks to his side, smiling at the sight of the a Zippleback and Monstrous Nightmare nipping at each other.
"Try not to burn anything you guys!" Hiccup hollers, gaining their attention. The monstrous nightmare roars at him, and the Zippleback takes the moment to set the nightmare on fire. Hiccup shakes his head, looking away before he can take in the scope of the damage. Already knowing he'll have to circle back to put out any stray embers.
Dragons co-exist here, living peacefully alongside each other. Something I never thought would have happened within these 3 years. Toothless zooms across the trees, raising up to move out of the way of a boulder.
"Oh man," Hiccup breathes as Toothless levels out in the clouds, raising his arms to the sky as he hollers. "I never get tired of these sights!" The edge is but a speck beneath him, he pats Toothless scales.
There's so much of the world to see up here, so much him and Toothless have yet to discover. Up here in the clouds, they are free. Hiccup raises up, balancing himself on top of Toothless as he stands, hands outstretched.
"Ready for it, Bud?" Toothless gurgles and Hiccup lets himself fall to the side. He's falling through the air, and he whoops as he sees Toothless diving after him. Just as the water comes in view, Toothless catches him with his talons, grinning a gummy smile at him before dropping him on solid land, landing neatly beside the boy.
Hiccup scratches under Toothless' snout, "that was good, faster than the last time." Hiccup talks as they begin their walk back to the home he's made for them on the Edge. A Deadly Napper hops around as Hiccup gets closer to the main part of the island.
There is a small home nestled within the trees, backed by the mountainside to keep it hidden from passing ships. It's small, and crudely built, additions to the house chipped on whenever they can fit. A hole in place of a door for Toothless to get in.
Inside is a workshop, taking up the majority of the building, with a room equipped with a bed and desk hidden in the corner of the building, away from the open air that blows in through the door.
It's home. Toothless lays down in front of the furnace after lighting it, curling up in the heat as Terrible Terrors hop on top of him, stealing the heat from the Night Fury's body. Hiccup shakes his head as Toothless growls at the smaller dragons but doesn't do much to dislodge them.
Taking off his helmet, Hiccup sits at his desk, pulling out his notebook. "I'm thinking we head South tomorrow, get on last scouting trip down before winter freezes us in. What do you think bud?" He sketches out a new suit idea on paper, pursing his lips before scratching it out with a grumble.
The lack of a response from Toothless makes Hiccup look over at him, the dragon snoring away underneath the small Terrors. He smiles, "yeah. I think I got the message." Hiccup gets up from his desk, stretching his arms above his head.
It's time for him to take a page out of Toothless' book and get some shut eye in before leaving in the early morning. With the winter coming up fast, there's a few things Hiccup knows he has to get down before hunkering down for the rest of the colder months.
He'll have to go get the steel blocking to cover the entrance with before the cold comes in, and take a look at his food stores and make sure it's properly reinforced this year. The dragons had torn it up last winter, finding a small opening for a Terror to fit through before dragging out the food for the rest of the dragons.
If only Berk had known how smart the dragons were. Hiccup shakes his head at that thought, glancing over to Toothless for one last time before laying down in his bed. It's no use thinking of Berk, even when new discovers about dragons makes him turn to talk to Fishlegs only to find no other human there. When a new invention gets the best of him and he waits to hear Gobber laugh at him instead of scolding as that was the older Viking's way of teaching.
Hiccup shakes his head, more violently this time. It's in the night when the thought of Berk peaks at him and he has to do his best to ignore it. Hiccup grumbles, covering his eyes with his arm. "For Thor's sake,"
He rolls over in his bed, peeking out beneath his arm to glance at the night sky above him. A window had been carved out above his bed, not on purpose, for a dragon had burned a hole through it and he never got around to fixing it. The stars twinkle above him and he wonders if his father is looking at the same night sky he is.
Sleep doesn't come easy that night. But it never has, not since he left Berk.
In the early morning, Hiccup saddles up Toothless, packing on knapsack with rations and warmer layers just in case they get caught up in the storm before they can make it back. Toothless grumbles and shakes himself slightly to rebalance himself before licking at Hiccup's hand.
"Hey!" Hiccup yelps, glaring at the dragon and wiping his hand against the dragon's scales. Toothless wiggles and narrows his eyes, shaking himself even more. "You know that never comes out."
Toothless huffs and Hiccup rolls his eyes halfheartedly. Raising a dragon is hard work, especially when he acts moody. Hiccup wonders if he was ever this bad when he was a kid before shaking his head.
He turns to face the group of dragons watching him, "alright, we'll be back soon. Try not to get in any trouble while I'm gone," he swings a leg over Toothless, still making eye contact with a Zippleback until it looks away and blows out gas. "That's what I thought."
Hiccup pulls his helmet down and with a flap of wings, they are up. He looks at the Edge as it gets smaller and smaller before finally facing forward. "It's just you and me now bud." Toothless makes a whistling sound before diving down, leveling out as they gain speed.
Ocean as far as the eye can see in every direction as they get further away from the edge. Hiccup pulls out the map, taking a piece of lead out of his boot as he straightens out the map along the saddle.
"Alright, south. Let's see what we can find, huh? Maybe we'll find another species of dragons before we have to head back," Toothless grumbles beneath him and Hiccup hits his boot lightly against Toothless' side, "yeah yeah, I know the island is getting a bit crowded. I didn't say we had to bring them back to the island."
Toothless makes a disbelieving noise and Hiccup throws a hand up, attaching the map to a hook on the saddle to keep it in place. "A guy brings home a dragon once!" Toothless warbles, "okay, maybe twice. Or well, maybe a couple hundred times but still!"
Toothless shakes his head in what Hiccup has dubbed his 'disappointed move', Hiccup rolls his eyes, "see if I make you another tail fin. Woah!" Hiccup yelps as Toothless shakes him, jostling the boy in his saddle. "Fine! I get it, now stop it before I fall!" Toothless makes hiccuping sounds that Hiccup has deduced is the dragon equivalent of laughing.
Hiccup looks out over the sea as they continue to fly, taking a deep breath. It's always freeing to be above it all, not worrying about humans and what they might be able to see and judge when you're all the way in the air. Far from human civilization.
The thoughts edge close to things Hiccup would rather not think about and he tightens his legs around Toothless' body, leaning down, "let's see how fast we can go, think we can make it back in 2 days?"
Toothless roars and his flank tenses underneath Hiccup's body. There's not much time for ideal thoughts after that. Just the way Hiccup likes.
The duo are forced to land once nightfall starts to dot the skyline, clouds a worrying dark color that makes Hiccup find them shelter within a cave rather than underneath the open sky. His prediction is correct when rain begins to fall from the sky, sounding like a thousand of tiny soldiers landing across the mountain top.
Hiccup huddles in to Toothless, shivering when the wind hits him before Toothless covers him with his wing, "thanks." He murmurs into the dark wing, curling himself closer to the heat. It's times like this Hiccup enjoys the most, hidden away from the world with his best friend as his company.
Everything could go wrong, but Hiccup knows he'll be okay as long as he's with Toothless. The dragon would never let anything happen to him and he knows he could take on anything as long as he has Toothless.
He doesn't need Berk. He doesn't need Viking trials. And he definitely doesn't need Stoick. Not when he has dragons.