686Chapter 26: Where No One Goes
Author's Note – The Forodwaith, or the Northern Waste as it is more commonly known, is basically an arctic tundra. It is permanently cold because of Morgoth's lasting evil influence from the realm he built in the ancient North.
Where No One Goes
The land was empty and wind-swept. Grey piles of rocks were interspersed with patches of short grass and dirt. Mosses and lichens barely clung to life on the rocky terrain in between expanses of snow.
The few ponds they passed over were small and shallow, though they were clear enough to drink from, having possibly been made from the little melt-water.
Everything was still except for the patches of long, wilted grass which gently swayed in the wind.
Hiccup kept himself tightly tucked to Toothless's back to stay out of the wind as much as possible. His heavy winter coat, mittens, mask, and other warm attire King Brand had given him almost never came off now, not even when he went to sleep. He was warm enough as long as he kept all that warm clothing on and remained at Toothless's side.
The nights were alternatively amazing and frightening. The skies were very clear, and the stars shone brightly with no lights at all from torches or civilization. The aurora glowed and flowed as it danced in the heavens. The cold was, naturally, the worst at night, especially on the cloudless nights.
They tried to find the best places to get out of the wind, in depressions or behind rocks, but Hiccup was sure that he would have frozen to death if not for Toothless's ever-present warmth. Being tucked against the Fury's belly and under sheltering wings was more than enough to get him through the nights in safety. Even better, Toothless did not mind the cold at all, saying that he felt nothing of the chill as long as they were out of the worst wind.
But as Hiccup closed his eyes while huddling against Toothless's side, the howling wind outside the warm, living tent was still very ominous.
The valley was long, and they could not find anything important in the valley. There were no other dragons or even prey worth trying to catch.
"Fly over there!" Hiccup shouted.
Toothless obeyed, of course, knowing better than to question the instructions. This was a strange world for them both, and Hiccup might have seen something to go check.
They glided down the empty valley filled with spikes of ice like teeth. Then they landed on a mountainside where there was a large cave mouth and a faint wind of cold coming from inside the cave.
Hiccup hopped off his back. Then Hiccup took the reins in his paws and tied the reins to a large stake in the ground.
"Stay," Hiccup commanded.
He lay down to obey and wait while Hiccup walked inside the cave. What Hiccup was doing in there he had no place to question. Hiccup was the master, after all.
All that he was supposed to do was sit there and wait. Be useful by carrying stuff and fighting. It was his burden and natural place.
Something still felt missing and wrong as he stared at the rope-reins tied to his head-binding thing, to his bridle.
'Darrk one, have you assked yourr massterr about yourr tailfin?'
The hissing voice slithered from the shadows.
My tailfin? What about it?
He brought his tail around and inspected the fins, only to freeze in alarm.
One of the fins was gone!
"What!"
The false-tailfin was missing. Hiccup took it with him.
Why would he do that?
Only one terrible explanation came to mind as he stared into the cave and again saw the rope-reins.
To keep me grounded... trapped... but he is my master... I... should stay and...
A growl started growing from within him at how wrong everything was. Or maybe the growl came from behind him.
"Toothless?"
He slowly turned around and looked over his shoulder when he heard Hiccup's voice.
But standing there just behind him was a creature that definitely was not Hiccup, Rather, it was a large, blue ice dragon that stared at him with deep green eyes. Hanging from its mouth was his false-tailfin, which the ice dragon then dropped at its paws.
"Toothless, are you okay, bud?" it asked with Hiccup's voice.
"You!" he reared back from it, tugging at the ropes that held him in place.
The ropes broke, but he was still grounded and could not escape. The not-Hiccup-dragon stalked closer to him while he was trapped on the ground. It was forcing him back into the cave, into its massive hoard where he would be trapped forever underground!
Its wide green eyes narrowed on him.
"What is wrong, bud? Don't you know me? Yourr massterr!"
He flew to his paws with a cry, breathing heavily as he did so. He shook his head of the bad-wrong-twisted dream the instant he saw the faint glow of light before him on the ground. The glow was the starlight from his jewel-pendant hanging from his neck.
Everything calmed down as he caught his breath and stared at his precious pendant.
Just a bad dream...
Hiccup was wide awake and looking at him with concern in his eyes.
"Toothless, are you okay, bud?"
He breathed heavily and settled down, shuffling on his paws.
"Yes, bad dream..."
"Sorry about that."
"Why? What did you do?"
"It's just a saying."
Hiccup scooted closer to his side behind the large rock. He wrapped a wing around Hiccup without hesitation to keep him warm as always.
"Want to talk about it?" Hiccup whispered.
"No. Not really."
"Was it that bad?"
"Yes, it was."
Silence fell as the clouds swirled high above and the wind howled. He closed his eyes and tried for more rest which did not happen quickly. His thoughts were too disturbed by that bad dream and his memories of the encounter with Vorunturth. The dream was so twisted and wrong in every way. Hiccup did not keep him trapped like a thing to use or like an animal of burden and work.
A long silence followed until Hiccup broke the silence.
"Bud, look at that, up in the sky."
He opened his eyes and looked up at the sky. A thinner layer of cloudcover had flown in, and there were empty patches where the dark sky was visible.
A single star shone brightly with a flicker of light so similar to his pendant.
"The star up there?"
"Yeah, there is beauty up there that no cold or shadow will ever touch," Hiccup whispered.
The long he stared up at the star, the warmer his soul-fire felt, the same as always happened with his Lorien pendant.
"Yes, I like that," he hummed.
Even after he closed his eyes, just the thought of the star left his soul-fire burning warmer as he held Hiccup close, completely hidden in his wings.
Neither of them said anything else that night.
Toothless stood up on the rocky hill and stared off in every direction into the night, looking for any sign of a prey herd he could hunt. There was nothing there. There was never anything there to hunt.
Hunger grew out of complete lack of any catches of prey. It would be very bad if these harsh lands were truly empty of life.
All he could feel was the pain in his belly and a burning need.
He needed to burn, catch, kill, and eat... something.
There were occasional signs of some prey-animals, things like piles of waste and tracks of paws and hooves in the dirt and snow in these lands, but he did not see anything that he could hunt yet.
He growled his frustration and shuffled down the hill to where Hiccup lay resting in his thick, warm furs. Then he lay down at Hiccup's side to help keep him a little warmer.
Silence followed except for the whistle of the wind.
The wind carried with it a hissing laugh and an idea. There was another option if he could only do what had to be done out of desperation and necessity. If he was strong enough to break free for his own good...
There was food with him right now.
The idea was shapeless at first, but it gradually became clearer as it crept closer to his known thoughts.
Then he heard Hiccup's calm breaths under his wing.
The rotted, bad-wrong idea was so terribly clear now that he was truly awake to his own thinking. Or was it truly his thinking?
No! Never! Not even if I would die of hunger!
The dark wind itself answered him.
'Yes, you would if you had to do that to live...'
No! Humans are not prey! Not him! None of them!
'So small and weak. You are not free...'
He snarled and lifted his head, looking around at the dark skies and growling at the chill wind.
I would rather die!
There was no light except the faint glow of the moon and the shine of his pendant on his neck.
Neither was there any other voice near him. Where had the twisted voice come from? Did the wind itself have voice? Was the land up here itself aware? Or did that voice come from inside his own soul-fire?
He was not sure which of those was worst.
Toothless finally saw the herd of prey off in the distance and turned toward it without hesitation or prompting. Doing so took his flight straight into the biting wind, but he did not care.
The only thing that mattered now after seven days in this very empty land was catching prey and filling his belly. And saving some meat for Hiccup also.
"Come on! You got it!" Hiccup shouted.
The caribou were busy grazing at moss and wispy grass and did not notice that they were being hunted. They were oblivious right up until Toothless dove, at which point they cried in alarm and scattered.
One of the larger ones fell to the ground with a smoking hole in its side. Toothless bounded up to the caribou and snapped its neck to end its pain.
"Well hunted, bud!"
Hiccup hopped off Toothless and waited as the Fury got to work, slicing through and tearing off the hide. He still looked away from the sight of all the blood and the meat absent the hide. It was upsetting, but entirely natural, to again see the wild and dangerous side of his best friend.
In the meantime, he nibbled on some of the cram from Dale. The ram was almost as hard as rock and not appetizing at all. He had eaten very little except for cram and Lembas over the last week.
Toothless, while definitely eating a lot, was also nosing around in the caribou's belly as if he was looking for something.
What are you doing?
Then Toothless growled happily and turned to him, gently setting something down on the caribou's ripped hide.
It was the liver.
"What is that for?"
"Eating," Toothless nudged it toward him with a bloody nose.
"Uh, no, no, no, no, no, no. I can't eat raw meat like you can."
"There is nothing we can burn out here to burn the meat. You can eat the liver," Toothless countered.
Hiccup warily regarded the liver. It was true that the liver was one of the most nutritious parts of the animal, and it could be eaten with minimal cooking or preparation. Some of the warriors with greater thirst for battle or a preference for rarer meat ate almost raw. The liver was also seen as something of a delicacy.
But for him it was more the principal of the matter that he did not want to...
Live wild like an animal?
"You should eat," Toothless prodded.
Hiccup slumped in place. His belly betrayed him by growling in disapproval of its being empty. The Lembas Bread, while sweet and giving strength the more he relied on it, did not make the belly feel full at all.
Feeling the pangs of starvation also had a powerful way of changing personal sentiments.
"Do I need to eat it and then give you half from my belly?" Toothless grinned.
Hiccup blanched and then slowly reached out to take the bloody liver.
"Great, raw liver. Love it! It's still better than fish from a dragon's belly. I'm never having that again..."
Toothless huffed.
"Was it that bad?"
"Just eat your food, bud."
Toothless looked around at the night, snarling softly into the darkness while Hiccup hid at his side. He and Hiccup had been eating their fill of the prey when shapes started appearing on the horizon. Many dark shapes started howling and filling the sky with their pack cries. They looked and sounded much like the four-legged pack-hunters, wolves, that he remembered from the past.
These were much bigger and lankier. Drool dripped from their jaws as they approached.
They also did not fear him even after he roared at them. Their eyes glowed with light as they stalked closer from all directions while snarling.
Being prey was not good, and he wanted to flame them and tear them apart to show that he was the true hunter! He could easily do that with his fire and claws.
But that would mean Hiccup would be in danger from their teeth. Hiccup's Dwarven dagger would not help much against this pack.
"Get on me..." he growled.
Hiccup hopped on his back without delay, and they glided away from the remains of the catch.
At least I got most of it...
He still snarled down at the large hunters that bounded forward and began to feed at what was left behind, which was not much. Then he turned aside to find another place where he and Hiccup could take shelter. There was a small stretch of rocks and hills in the distance, and there might be shelter from the wind there.
The dark wind was very cold, and the night was still young.
Days and nights of empty silence followed except for the whistle of the biting wind and their own voices. An ever-present grey cloudcover hung over the land and smothered the sun.
They filled the desolation with stories of adventures in the Shire with the Hobbits, humorous accounts of pranks and games played back on Berk, silly fights and accidents among the dragons when they played together in the nest, and stories of Viking mythology which Toothless was very eager to hear about, even if he did not understand many of the stories.
The warmer days were partially spent with Hiccup practicing his archery from dragonback. He quickly learned that hitting a stationary target while riding was very hard. While he was still improving on his accuracy with normal shots, they had to lock the tailfin into a glide so that Hiccup could sit upright and draw a bow at all. That made flight rather unsteady and not reliable enough to let him accurately loose arrows.
Their flight carried them with the sun into the west until they found the desolate, rocky shore above the Cape of Forochel. There was nothing there except for waves, ice, rock, wispy grass, and seals, one of which Toothless caught and swiftly dispatched. They both ate their fill and then wandered over to the cliff to stare out over the ocean.
Hiccup sighed and leaned against Toothless's warm side.
"I can almost imagine that Berk is out there somewhere..."
Toothless settled down and held his wings wide to flutter in the frigid wind.
"Gandalf said that there are no lands out there, yes?"
"Yeah, not this far north. I think that there are some smaller islands much further south."
The northern wind gusted and blew some of the snow off the cliff.
"No sign of anything yet, huh?" Hiccup shivered.
"Nothing. I thought that my kind might want to live by the water for fish. If they are at all..." Toothless grumbled with fallen ears.
Hiccup stroked his neck in reassurance.
"We aren't giving up yet. I'm... not even cold right now! This is totally balmy and fun-in-the-sun!"
"We have not seen the sun in days..." Toothless grumbled.
"I've seen worse! I can still feel all my fingers, my toes, and my nose, so we're fine! Northeast it is!"
They stood there a while longer, silently staring out to sea as the waves broke on the rocks at the base of the cliff. The dry, chill wind rolled down the plain.
It was a land completely untouched by human influence and likely would always be so. There was no reason for anyone to want to come live here where no one goes.
There was a wild, harsh beauty in this place of pure, raw nature.
But it lacked... green.
The days were short, and the nights were long.
Entire days were spent in shelter to avoid storms and the worst of the howling wind.
It was hard to tell how much time was passing.
The map had long ago stopped being useful.
It was unlikely that anyone had ever lived this far north because there was no reason to. There were no roads, houses, or any signs of civilization.
They actually found a grove of trees: gnarled, rough pines with twisted branches and which did not grow high at all. There were even some bushes with tough and wild edible berries.
Hiccup was not about to complain.
Odin, it was rough! All these days of nothing on the menu but Lembas or fresh meat! Finally something... different to eat!
Toothless helped in ripping off some branches and then starting a fire. It was the first time they had so warmed themselves in many days. They could have been in the Waste for weeks by now, but neither of them had any idea anymore how long it had been.
Toothless curled up around the fire, almost touching it. His purring grew louder and deeper the longer he basked in the warmth. Meanwhile, Hiccup warmed his hands close to the flickering tongues of flame, all while still wearing each of his layers. He also looked up at the stars and the orange light that danced on the trees around him and Toothless.
"I miss the Shire," Toothless whispered.
"Same here. Bag-end, the forge, the fields, the Hobbit kids, Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, all of them. Don't forget the Elven homes too: Rivendell and Lothlorien. Those places are beautiful also."
A gentle purr followed that.
"Those places feel different from the Shire. Almost like they are not part of Middle-earth."
"Yeah, maybe they aren't, in a way, since the Elves try to preserve what was long ago," Hiccup added.
The sight of the twinkling stars reminded him of one of the more incredible stories he had heard.
"Bud, do you think that story about the Elf with the sky-ship is real?"
Toothless yawned.
"I forgot some of that story; how does it go?"
"Earendil, Elrond's father, was a mariner. He built a boat-ship called Vingilot, and it can fly. I'm not sure how. He got one of the special Silmaril stones, almost like what Galadriel gave you, and wears it all the time. He used that Silmaril and his sky-boat in the battle against bad dragons long ago. He now flies forever in his ship and shines like a star."
They stared up at the sky, silently watching at the aurora flowed high above. Toothless purred softly.
"Flying forever sounds very good... very warming."
Hiccup nodded in agreement while listening to the faint whistle of the wind, the groan of the trees, and the crackle of the fire. Then he had an idea.
"On the topic of stuff that is warming, we should try some more of this Miruvor. It's almost all gone," he proposed as he unscrewed a couple of the remaining vials.
The strange drink smelled and tasted very fruity. It burned slightly when one drank it, but that warmth spread through the drinker's body. The effect was like very potent mead, but without the getting drunk.
"I have not had any of it," Toothless answered.
"You might as well try it then while you still can," Hiccup held up one for him to take.
Toothless held the cordial in his jaws, ready to drink it in one go. Hiccup lifted his cordial and nodded to him.
Both empty vials were tossed aside moments later.
"What do you think? Feel that?" Hiccup asked.
Toothless lifted an eyeridge and warbled in amusement.
"The drink feels warm in my belly. There was not much though."
"Yeah, not sure you really need it, but it does feel good."
Hiccup got to his feet to stretch his legs before turning in.
"What do you say? Further east tomorrow?"
It was an unspoken agreement that neither of them would admit to how hopeless the search appeared. The only indication of anything at all so far were the words that Vorunturth spoke, and he was not the most trustworthy source.
"We might as well. I do not know where else to fly," Toothless agreed.
"Alright, I'll be right back..."
Hiccup then left the fireplace and walked away into the trees to answer a calling behind a tree. The cold ground crackled under his boots as he walked, his heavy fur coat brushing against the branches. The wind rolled through the grove and bit at his nose, making him shiver now that he was away from the fire.
Not sure how much longer we can stay up here. The supplies are running lower than I'd like.
He had just finished when he heard the unmistakable crack of fallen twigs behind him.
"Toothless, come on, give me some privacy..."
The crackling stopped without anything being said in reply. So Hiccup spun around in mild frustration to tell Toothless off.
Sure enough, the Night Fury had followed after him and was sitting a short pounce away from him in the darkness. The Fury's bright orange eyes glowed as it stared toward him and...
He blinked, realizing several things in that instant in which time stopped.
One, Toothless did not have orange eyes. Two, this Night Fury was not Toothless. Three, Night Furies that are not Toothless might not be safe. Four, Toothless was not with him to keep him safe this instant.
"Don't eat me!" he threw up his hands.
The new Night Fury blinked, shook its head in confusion, narrowed its eyes, and opened its mouth, flashing its sharp teeth as it coiled to pounce. At him.
Like he was prey.
"Toothless!"
"Toothless!" Hiccup screamed.
That was a call of fear that Toothless had never heard from his friend before, and he acted without thinking. He jumped to his paws and started running as fast as he could, darting between the trees and extending his claws while readying his fire.
Fear for his friend and all he had as family was all he knew as he bounded and leapt.
All he saw was that a dark shape, definitely a dragon, was hunting Hiccup. Hiccup was trying to keep a tree trunk between himself and the dragon, but...
He roared aloud a call of challenge and defiance as he kicked off and leapt at it. It spun to face him and jumped at him. They crashed together at the chest, snapped at each other's necks, and kicked apart from each other with snarls.
He fired a shot at the dragon and forced it to dodge the explosion by jumping back. Then he jumped toward Hiccup and forced him to the ground, standing protectively over him while flaring his wings wide in display and flashing his teeth at the new...
He froze and stared. His wings flopped to the ground as he stood there, gazing with a mix of awe, shock, and anger at the fellow Night Fury.
It was a male with orange eyes. The male was slightly smaller than him and did not appear very well-fed, but it was kin to him; this was his own kind of dragon!
This was something he had thought for years was not possible or he would never see.
I am not alone...
The male folded its wings away and settled for glaring at him, still baring its teeth but not actively moving toward him or Hiccup.
Neither of them moved or did anything for many wingbeats of time.
Then Hiccup tried to get out from under him, which he did not like, especially when the other Night Fury resumed staring at Hiccup.
As if he were food.
"Dark wing, will you eat it?" it asked.
The strange Night Fury spoke just like him, with human words. Its voice was very harsh and filled with a growling rumble, but he and Hiccup could understand it.
"Toothless, he is talking to us!" Hiccup exclaimed with glee from on the ground.
You would think about that, Hiccup...
"The prey talks!" the strange Night Fury barked in surprise, apparently only then realizing that Hiccup could also talk.
"Hiccup is not prey! And yes, he talks!"
Learning that Hiccup could talk must have been a surprise to the male as his narrowed eyes briefly widened slightly and his ears went up.
"Will you eat the human you took from my hunt?" the male asked again.
Shock, horror, disgust, and wrongness were all he felt as he stood over Hiccup.
"Humans are not prey!"
The Night Fury blinked and looked confused as its tail twitched at its side.
"Not prey? We are prey to them. They are prey to us."
"No! False. Life does not need to be that. This human is my friend; he is kin to me!"
Silence flew between them while the Night Fury thought about his words. It did not look like he understood.
"Why would you make a prey your kin?"
"Toothless, this is amazing! We found one!" Hiccup shouted again.
"Hiccup, he just tried to kill you and wants to eat you!"
"Oh, don't worry about that. Let me up..."
Hiccup carefully crawled out from under his belly and stood at his shoulder. Toothless stepped forward and gave the male Night Fury another snarl of warning while baring all his teeth and with wings flared.
"If you try to hurt him, I will bite off your wings..."
"Toothless," Hiccup gasped, "don't be like that."
He knocked the back of Hiccup's head with his wing.
"What? Protective of a stupid human who wants to become prey?"
"I do not! It's just an occupational hazard of knowing dragons! And we found another Night Fury; this is amazing!"
He did not want to let his hopes fly too high, but this was the first other Night Fury he could ever remember seeing. If there was one there were hopefully more.
He considered the new male again. It was sitting on its rear while looking between him and Hiccup. Its mouth was now closed and its tail slowly twitched. It was hard to know what thoughts were flying inside its thinking.
"Hey, Night Fury, do you have a name?" Hiccup asked.
There was no response.
"He asked you if you have a name!" Toothless growled.
"Night Fury is not my name," the male answered.
"What is your name?" Hiccup prodded.
The male against looked between him and Hiccup. It looked very confused as its tail swayed.
"I am Wings-Of-Ice. What about you, dark wing?"
"My name is... Toothless."
Wings-Of-Ice snorted.
"And I'm Hiccup."
Wings-Of-Ice stared unblinkingly at Hiccup as Hiccup waved a paw at him.
"Prey talking is very twisted..." Wings-Of-Ice grumbled.
Toothless rolled his eyes and rested his chin on Hiccup's head.
"Yes, it would be, but he is not prey. He is like us with a different body."
"He is a no-scale not-prey?"
"Not prey, yes! He has soul-fire also."
That provoked a confused growl and a look of total confusion.
"Soul-fire? What! Only we have soul-fire!"
"Wrong. Humans and the life like them have soul-fire also. Hiccup has one."
Wings-Of-Ice still appeared confused and disbelieving.
"Hey, Wings-Of-Ice, are there more of you, other Night Fury... dark wings?" Hiccup eagerly asked after remembering what Wings-Of-Ice called his own kind.
Wings-Of-Ice looked very wary at that question and crouched low to the ground.
"Why does the prey want to know?"
"I want to know bec..." Hiccup began when Toothless interrupted.
"No! Hiccup is not prey! Use his name!"
"Bud, it doesn't really..."
Toothless glared down at Hiccup and silenced him with a soft growl. Then he glared back at Wings-Of-Ice, waiting silently for the other Night Fury to give in. It did not want to give in, so he kept glaring at him.
This was important. Wings-Of-Ice had to admit that Hiccup was not very different from himself: that they both had soul-fires. At the very least, the fellow Fury would admit that Hiccup, and any human, was not prey.
Using Hiccup's name would be a start.
"Why does... not-prey Hiccup... want to know?"
He snorted, pleased that Wings-Of-Ice finally used Hiccup's name. It was not much, but calling Hiccup a name had to make it harder to think of him as prey. That was his hope, at least.
"Because we have been looking for you. We need to find you and your kin and talk to all of them," he explained.
"About what?" Wings-Of-Ice asked.
"About something that the pack, if there is one, must hear about."
"Are there others?" Hiccup eagerly asked.
Toothless tried to contain his own hope and eagerness. If he was right...
"Yes, there are more of us. A full pack," Wings-Of-Ice hissed.
Hiccup's arm found its way around his neck at the same time he himself took a very deep breath. He stopped trying to restrain his tail and the hum of warmth that was burning inside.
So many years has passed of his thinking that he was alone, the only one of his kind. And he was always wrong. There were more of his kind.
"How many?" Toothless whispered.
"Six pairs of mates, their young, and some others. We all made a pack for protection against enemies like hunger and humans."
"Where is the pack?" Hiccup asked.
Wings-Of-Ice snarled and wrinkled his nose at Hiccup.
"Hidden."
"Can you take us there? We promise that we won't do anything bad," Hiccup pleaded.
Wings-Of-Ice stepped away from them and started pacing. Then the orange-eyed Fury flicked his head in his direction.
"You, dark wing, can fly with me, and I will fly us to the pack. Your human cannot come with. It is not welcome."
"He comes with me, or I do not come with. I cannot fly without him."
That only greatly confused Wings-Of-Ice.
"What do you mean, you cannot fly without him?"
He lifted his tailfins and wiggled the only remaining one.
"I am grounded without him. He helps me fly with a new tailfin, but he must be on my back."
Wings-Of-Ice was alarmed, but he also appeared to understand what that meant.
"The pack-rule is that any new dark wings or others like us are allowed to meet the pack. But I cannot let a human know where the pack is..." Wings-Of-Ice mused while pacing.
Hiccup interjected.
"Because you are afraid that I might tell other humans where you are?"
"Yes," Wings-Of-Ice snorted.
Oddly, Hiccup smiled and crossed his arms on his front.
"Good, because I could not do that even if wanted to. I have no idea where this is here; I am lost. I also cannot get around without Toothless carrying me. Even if I knew where this is and even if I could get back to the South, I don't think anyone else could travel all the way up here just to hunt for you. And why would I tell humans where a pack of Night Furies... dark wings... are hiding? My best friend is one of you!"
Toothless grunted at that.
"And I trust Hiccup with my wings and life."
Wings-Of-Ice gave a reluctant warble of agreement after much thinking.
"True, we are very far from any human or other nests. But how do I know that you, Hiccup, are not controlling Toothless? What is that light-rock-thing on him?"
Toothless noticed the faint glow that his pendant was casting in the darkness. As usual, that warmth filled his soul-fire and was a protection against the always-there darkness and cold.
It is twisted that he would be worried about a human controlling a dragon's thinking. That cannot happen.
"This is the light of a star. It helps me stay free from bad thinking and feel warmer inside. A very good Elf, a not-human not-prey two-leg, gave it to me as a gift."
Wings-Of-Ice said nothing as he stared at the pendant and then back at Hiccup.
"Wings-Of-Ice, did you or any in the pack meet humans in this world?" Hiccup asked.
A soft snarl followed that.
"Not since we flew the long, twisted flight. The Alphas and all of us agreed to leave the places that have humans and life like them so that we can be safe from them."
They both winced, but those skies would be flown later. First, they had to find the pack.
"Will you fly us to the pack?" Toothless asked.
"I still do not know if I can trust you..."
Hiccup snorted and got to his feet. He started for Wings-Of-Ice before either of them could object. Wings-Of-Ice nervously stepped back a couple paces, which Toothless found very twisted. Hiccup was just being his usual twisted.
"Hiccup!"
"Toothless, it's okay. He won't hurt me."
Hiccup stopped right in front of Wings-Of-Ice, right in reach of the Fury's claws and teeth! He then held out a paw right before Wings-Of-Ice's nose!
"What are you... doing!" the Fury barked while shuffling back on his paws.
Toothless agreed as he bounded closer to stand defensively behind Hiccup.
Hiccup will be Hiccup... at least he did not try to do this with Vorunturth, that pile of steaming waste...
"Wings-Of-Ice, I know that you don't know me, but I trust you," Hiccup calmly said.
Wings-Of-Ice's wings fell to the ground at his side, and he gave a completely confused grunt and flick of an ear.
"What is your human doing?"
Toothless snorted and thrashed his tail.
"Being himself, twisting as it is. He wants some bonding with you."
Even as he explained it, he was not sure that he liked it. Hiccup was his friend, not the friend of this strange Night Fury who had attacked him at first.
"Bonding?" Wings-Of-Ice barked.
"Small-bonding, yes, and if you snap at him or bite at him..."
"Toothless!" Hiccup groaned.
"You know what will happen," he snarled.
A long pause followed before Wings-Of-Ice warily stepped closer, narrowing his eyes on the paw before his nose. He stared, breathing heavily as he struggled to act.
Then he very cautiously leaned closer and licked the paw once.
Hiccup pulled back the paw and wiped it on his warm furs, but he did not look at all frustrated. He was extremely happy, judging from his very wide smile.
"Why are you doing that?" Wings-Of-Ice softly hissed.
Hiccup was definitely confused by the question.
"Doing what?"
"Showing me your teeth!"
"Oh, that. That is one way I show that I'm happy."
"It is not a fight-sign?"
"A fight-sign? No. Why would I want to fight you?"
Toothless nudged Hiccup's shoulder to get his attention.
"Hiccup, showing teeth is a dominance-sign, a fighting sign. Well, it is except when you do it."
"Ah, not what I meant," Hiccup whispered.
Wings-Of-Ice stepped closer and peacefully sniffed at Hiccup first and Toothless second. The orange-eyed Fury looked surprised by something, and then he sat back down on his rear while he tried to smile without his teeth being out.
It looked very twisting.
Is that what I look like when being toothless? Great skies above, I hope not...
Then Wings-Of-Ice grumbled to himself while shaking his head.
"No... Would you tell me why you want to meet the pack? I must know before I agree to fly you to them."
Hiccup crossed his arms and answered after a moment of thought.
"We want to meet them to warn them about a danger. There is a danger they cannot hide from."
Wings-Of-Ice gave a more considerate grumble and looked off into the night.
"A danger to the pack? What danger?"
Hiccup groaned, not sure what to say. They knew to keep the truth of the Ring secret, but there was enough they could hopefully share to convince Wings-Of-Ice.
"It's a long story, but there are people who might want to hurt Ni... dark wings or use them in fighting. Toothless and I already had to fight Nazgul, basically living shadow-things, and..."
Wings-Of-Ice interrupted with a bark of alarm.
"Living shadow-things! That is bad. You should come and tell us about it! I will take you to the pack."
"We will, but first we have to pack," Hiccup explained.
"Pack? What?" Wings-Of-Ice grumbled.
Hiccup hit his own forehead.
"Oh, silly me. We have to get ready to fly. Let's go back to the fire."
The three of them turned back for the fire, Toothless walking between Hiccup and Wings-Of-Ice, just to be safe. Both Furies sat down next to the fire and waited while Hiccup packed his things and worked on the saddle and tailfin.
"What were you doing out here?" Toothless asked his fellow Fury.
Wings-Of-Ice looked away from the saddle and other flying-equipment which he was visibly interested by.
"I was ranging far from the pack to look for hunting. There is a herd of four-legs that make good eating if we can find them. The pack has a heavy female, and she must eat much. The last few moon-cycles have not been good for hunting."
A heavy female...
The thought of that brought up some feelings that he had avoided for a long time. Being the only one of his kind, he had never known or truly felt those wants for a mate and hatchlings.
Now, with an entire pack of his kin out there, it was very likely that there would be at least one available female he could pursue.
But I do not know their ceremonies. What they... we do to impress mates. I think I am old enough.
I wonder...
Hiccup strapped the last bag to his back, adjusted the saddle, and got into it after putting out the fire.
"Let's go!"
They followed Wings-Of-Ice out of the grove of trees and then into the clear sky. It was very cold again as they flew into the wind in the cloudless sky. Hiccup kept his coat and all other winter gear on and did his best to keep his face out of the wind.
Despite the cold, they both felt a warm burning inside.
"Toothless, I'm so happy for you. We found them!"
He could fly no words and settled for letting Hiccup feel his deep purr as they flew on into the night, following after a dark blur further into the northeast.
Wings-Of-Ice dove for a small grove of trees and fired a shot into them. Several shapes ran out in alarm from hiding, trying to escape into the darkness.
Toothless dove low to the ground in chase after one of the four-legs. Then he dropped from the sky and tackled the prey, quickly breaking its neck.
Wings-Of-Ice landed next to him and looked expectantly toward the catch.
"You can take it, Wings-Of-Ice. That female in the pack needs it more than I do."
Wings-Of-Ice purred in approval and then picked up the dead catch in his jaws. They returned to the sky.
"Not hungry, bud?" Hiccup teased.
"A little, but they need the prey more."
"Yeah, helping out the pack might help them like us sooner."
Toothless grunted.
I hope so.
The full moon was high overhead when Hiccup saw the mountains. They were not nearly as tall as the Misty Mountains or even the Grey Mountains, but as he saw once the two Furies reached the slopes, they were still rocky and covered in snow at the peaks.
The northern slope was very barren and windswept with nothing more than short shrubs. The land beyond was truly nothing except snow, ice, frozen mud, and rock.
The southern slope was very different with thick rows of pines and a small flowing stream that was partly frozen over in places. The pines were mostly protected from the worst of the wind because of the mountains. There were even several reflective ponds which were steaming. It seemed strange in this land that there could be water that wasn't frozen.
Hmm, hot springs?
Wings-Of-Ice tucked his wings and dove, eventually touching down on the rocks next to what were indeed hot springs. Toothless settled down next to him.
"Wait here!" Wings-Of-Ice growled and then bounded off into the trees with the prey in his jaws.
Toothless could not help but notice all the shed scales and different scents on the rocks. There were several Night Furies that frequently shed scales or rubbed against these rocks.
Hiccup also noticed the scales and bent down to pick up several of them.
"Toothless, you see all this?" he breathed in wonder.
Toothless bent down at nosed at the many shed scales. The scents were familiar but also not.
"Yes. I do not know what to think."
"I know. We finally found other Night Furies..." Hiccup sighed.
"My kin..." he whined.
Hiccup stepped closer so that they could be sure no others could overhear, even though they saw no others.
"They're probably going to have a lot of questions about us."
"Yes, they will."
"What do you think about telling them the whole truth? With the tailfin and all..."
He did not need to think long about that, and he answered in a whisper.
"They do not need to know that you shot me from the sky. It is nothing to me and does not matter now. You found me downed after fighting. I lost the tailfin in the fighting. All true."
"Okay."
Then Hiccup stared at his pendant.
"Bud, do you think we should put that away? It might look suspicious to them..."
"Good idea."
Hiccup took the pendant off him and put it away in the supplies. He settled down with Hiccup under an outstretched wing. More nervous waiting followed as they stared up at the sky, wondering how long it would be before they met the pack and what would happen afterwards.
Then Toothless spun in place, feeling as if he was being watched, and stared into the trees while Hiccup stood at his shoulder. They both fell silent at what they saw.
There among the trees and in the darkness were many glowing eyes of all different colors: blue, green, yellow, orange, red, and other colors in-between.
The dark shapes slowly crept out from the shadows as frilled heads appeared in the moonlight. Juveniles of various sizes hid under a parent's wing while staring wide-eyed at both of them.
Silence fell over all with no one moving anything: not an ear, a wing, or a tail twitched.
Then one pair of adults, likely a male and a female from their slightly different appearances, the female having smaller frills, a leaner shape, and larger tailfins, approached in front of the others. The leading pair walked slowly and had warily narrowed eyes that were different shades of blue.
The orange-eyed Wings-Of-Ice bounded forward as well to their sides with a soft bark.
"Alphas, we should listen to them!"
"We come in peace!" Hiccup gasped.
The male and female Alpha Night Furies froze and gasped in surprise.
"The human talks!" "By the skies!"