Official
Toothless grumbled as he looked around the slope down below. There were several people he needed to talk to as soon as he could to give them the good news.
Where are they?
Then he spotted his sire, dam, and little brother walking to get a drink of water.
He dove with a joyful roar and touched down beside them.
"Sire, dam, brother!"
They flicked their ears and tilted their heads in confusion.
"Is something twisted?" "Are you hungry?" "Silly brother!"
"I must tell you something!"
"What?" Sky-Dancer purred.
He smirked, amused that they had not noticed the truth yet.
"Hiccup made me a new tailfin! I can fly on my own now!"
That must have been when they realized that Hiccup was not on his back. His parents' wings fell to the ground as their jaws hung open. Breath-Of-Sky bounced on his paws while spinning in place.
"What?" "What?" "Amazing!"
He hopped up before them, turned aside, and wiggled his tail in their faces.
"Look at the new tailfin!" he shouted.
Both tailfins twisted and turned and rolled. His parents leaned closer to him and bent down to gently nose and paw at the new tailfin.
"And it... lets you fly now?" Far-Flight barked with amazement.
"Yes," he purred, "the flying is not truly fast or smooth, but I can fly on my own! Watch this!"
He roared aloud and jumped for the sky. He did not fly long at all, just doing a single wide loop above the nearest dens. Then he dove and landed before them again. They both bounded to him and nuzzled his head after seeing that short flight. Their soft whining and purring sparked his soul-fire even warmer than it already was.
"And there is more good!" he added.
"What is it?" "My dear cub..." "Big brother!"
"This," he stepped back from them and pointed with his tail down the slope.
Hiccup and Moonbeam were approaching, walking slowly up the slope while whispering to each other. Hiccup then went to wrestle with Breath-Of-Sky's head, and Moonbeam hopped over to his own side. She then put a wing over his back and turned to his parents.
"We are mates now," Moonbeam purred.
His parents blinked in surprise and started purring very deeply. Sky-Dancer bounded over before Moonbeam, chuffed, and then nuzzled her nose.
"I am happy for you. We hoped this would be. You will be good to each other," she hummed.
Far-Flight also hopped closer and then licked Moonbeam's nose. She snorted and pawed at her face after he did that.
"I am happy for you also, mate of my first cub."
Moonbeam hummed softly and hung her head, her tail going still.
"It is twisted to have a second sire and dam now," she whispered.
Far-Flight hummed solemnly.
"We will not take the memory-place of your lost sire and dam," he said.
"Just know that you are even more kin to us now," Sky-Dancer purred.
"And," Far-Flight barked in amusement, "you both might be dams together!"
"Might be? I hope you two do not have a problem with that..." Moonbeam smugly purred.
Toothless joined in their laughter while Breath-Of-Sky chuckled and Hiccup blushed.
Far-Flight and Sky-Dancer then turned to Toothless.
"My cub..." Far-Flight began.
"Sire..." Toothless groaned.
"We are happy for you and glad that you are with her. I told you that she has a warm soul-fire."
"Yes, you did."
They then turned on Hiccup and slowly strode up to him while crooning.
"Hiccup, you gave our cub true flight..." Far-Flight said.
Toothless groaned again.
"Sire, I am not a cub!"
Sky-Dancer pressed her hung head into Hiccup's chest.
"You are so good to him," she whispered as he gently held her head.
Hiccup sighed at that and whispered to her.
"I don't know. I've hurt him before, but I'm trying to be better."
"Yes, you are," she hummed and lifted her head.
She gazed at him with an unknown look in her green eyes. Then she bounded over to Far-Flight's side and walked away with him, whispering to each other. Their ears lifted and tails started swaying as they spoke, eventually coming to some agreement. Then they both returned to him.
"We want to do something for you, if you want it," Far-Flight whispered.
"To show how much we thank you for being good to our son and to show you how close we hold you to our soul-fires," Sky-Dancer added.
"What is it?" he asked, curious.
Sky-Dancer purred, hesitated, and then answered.
"Sometimes a pair of mates will raise a cub that is not theirs if the blood sire and dam are... gone or cannot raise the cub."
Hiccup nodded, seeing the obvious kindness in such a custom, and then realized what they were about to do.
"We want to name you our cub," Far-Flight added as he crouched down next to her.
"I..." Hiccup gasped and glanced at Toothless who also looked amazed.
It was confusing to get an offer to be adopted into a dragon family.
His own father was not a bad man at all. Presumably, Stoick was still out there on Berk now and doing what he had been doing for decades: being a chief first and foremost. His being that was... what Berk needed. But that was in an entirely different world that he himself would probably never see again.
His mother was gone, killed long ago by a dragon in a raid that had almost killed him as a baby.
There was still the faintest, unreasonable hope inside that he might one day see Berk again.
But now, with Toothless and Moonbeam happy together, with the entire Fury pack settling in here in Rohan in Middle-earth, and with his own mission of being their representative, he could finally let go of that last tether to the past.
Accepting that he would not see any of them again, Stoick, Gobber, Gothi, Astrid, Snotlout, Ruff and Tuff, Fishlegs, and everyone else... hurt... but his place was not there anyway. While his relationship had not been the best with all of them, there was no reason to hate them or be spiteful. They all, in their various ways, tried the best they could in the harsh world they lived in.
Sky-Dancer and Far-Flight expectantly waited for his answer.
He didn't need a replacement father or mother. He didn't need new providers for him. Not really. After all, he was almost eighteen, which made him a grown man by the measure of most tribes and peoples.
On the other hand, Sky-Dancer and Far-Flight were patient with him, understanding, and didn't hate him for his past mistakes. They, Toothless, Breath-Of-Sky, and now Moonbeam and Mystery were family now and always. Accepting this offer would only make official what already was in practice.
"What does it mean? Are there any strange ceremonies I don't know about?"
"No," Sky-Dancer shook her head, "It means that you are kin to us as if we raised you, that you may always rest with us, and that we will protect each other even within the pack. Some ceremonies about choosing mates do not work with you..."
I'm going to be adopted by a family of dragons. Why not? We have been family already for a long time.
So he smiled back at them and nodded.
"I accept, father, mother."
They smugly purred and licked his face one at a time. Breath-Of-Sky, Toothless, and Moonbeam took their turns afterwards and licked him while and purring deeply.
Standing there dripping in drool, he could not be truly frustrated with them.
"Ugh, this will not wash out. Was that really necessary?"
Toothless laughed.
"Yes, the naming would not work without the licks!"
"Very funny. Real hilarious, bro..."
"We will tell the pack tonight!" Far-Flight eagerly barked.
Sky-Dancer nuzzled him one more time.
"I knew you had the soul-fire of a dark wing, son," she said.
He was reminded of another time that someone else, an ice dragon, told him that he had the soul of a dragon. The two statements were similar, but they had such different meanings to him, especially given the speakers in those two cases.
"Thanks, mom."
"You made the new tailfin for Burning-Star! How?" she shouted.
"Clever paws, that is how!" Toothless chuffed.
Hiccup shrugged.
"I'm rather skilled in the forge. It wasn't too hard. Just... needed the right push..."
"Well, however it happened... we thank you, son," she said, gently nuzzling his shoulder.
"Sister!" Moonbeam barked.
Their happy meeting was interrupted as Mystery approached from the Edoras square where a regular supply of food, fresh and dried, was made available each morning. She looked worried as she stared in their direction.
Moonbeam hopped over before her.
"Sister, what is twisting you?"
Mystery shuffled on her paws, not answering for a while.
"You... you have a mate now, sister-dam."
"Yes, I do. Burning-Star is part of my life-flight now."
"You do not want me anymore..." Mystery whined and hung her head.
Moonbeam barked in alarm while nuzzling Mystery's forehead.
"No! Wrong! You are my sister-cub! You will stay in the sleeping-pile with me."
Toothless strode over to them, and then he licked Mystery's face. She grumbled in some annoyance and wiped her face with a paw, much as Moonbeam had earlier.
"Sister of my mate, you are kin to me. You may rest with us."
Breath-Of-Sky slithered in under Toothless's wing.
"And you are my kin also!"
Far-Flight and Sky-Dancer similarly strode over to her with welcoming purrs.
Mystery looked around at the eager Furies gathered around her, and she hummed softly in evident relief.
Hiccup was sure she was being too dramatic about the whole situation, but then Mystery's and Moonbeam's relationship was, through no fault of theirs, a strange one: a mix of sisters and mother-daughter.
"We should go eat now as a pack!" Sky-Dancer hummed.
"Yes, we should. There is plenty of meat at the food place," Moonbeam agreed.
"You all go ahead. I'll be up at the Hall for breakfast," Hiccup added.
They started to go their separate ways when Toothless stopped him.
"There is something I want us to do soon," Toothless said.
"What is it?"
Toothless bent down and whispered to him.
"You need to learn flying with false-wings. You can make some, yes?"
Hiccup couldn't contain his giddy grin at the suggestion.
"I like how you think, bro. Guess what? I was already working on them! It'll be a few more days before they're ready, but I can do it."
"Flying with you that way will be very good! You will fly like a dragon!"
"Yeah, the rescue maneuvers are going to be much better, not sloppy at all!"
Toothless sat back on his rear and crossed his paws.
"Who said anything about you needing to be rescued?"
"Uh, you do know who you're talking to..."
Toothless rolled his eyes and chuffed.
"True... how did I forget?"
The Golden Hall was not very busy, mostly because it was late for breakfast and most of the workers had already left for their daily duties.
However, Aragorn, Gandalf, Merry, and Pippin were at a table together. Hiccup grabbed a plate of cheese and bread and a mug of water before joining them.
"Hiccup! Good to see you!" Pippin cheerfully greeted him while smoking on a pipe.
"Good to see you all too. Isn't it early for smoking, Pippin?"
"Impossible! It's never too early for Longbottom Leaf!" Merry objected.
"You know, I'm quite glad that we went to Isengard on holiday!" Pippin added.
That sounded incredible of them to be so unconcerned about having been abducted. There had to be something he didn't know about going on.
"Why are you glad you went there?"
"Because we found Saruman's storeroom!" Merry explained.
"The accommodations are a little wilder now, but it was a quality establishment back in the day," Pippin added.
"Top of the line. We thought it'd be only dead rats and moldy bread, but no sir," Merry further explained.
"Fresh apples, new produce, a whole chicken, and two barrels... of Old Toby..." Pippin dreamily sighed.
Hiccup settled down at the table.
"Sounds delicious."
"Aye, the food was. The Longbottom Leaf... there are no words for that discovery..." Pippin breathed.
Both Hobbits then heavily sighed and stirred their bowls of soup.
"Was this breakfast or second breakfast?"
"Just breakfast. They don't do second breakfast here..." Pippin bemoaned.
Hiccup rolled his eyes.
"A true disaster. Hey, do you know where I could find Gimli and Legolas?"
"Training or taunting each other, not sure which. Maybe both since they're not exclusive," Merry answered.
"Yeah, Legolas was teaching Gimli how to use a bow, and Gimli challenged Legolas to forge something," Pippin explained.
"A Dwarf with a bow and an Elf in the forge, why not?" Hiccup shrugged.
Aragorn chuckled while puffing his pipe.
"You might be surprised, Master Haddock. The greatest weapons ever forged were of Elf-make. The Dwarves are also capable with many different weapons though they favor the ax above all others."
He thought back to all he had seen in Rivendell, particularly in the weapons room. There were many different types of weapons, all of very fine craftsmanship.
Then Aragorn leaned back in his chair and crossed his hands.
"I hear that you have some skill in your hands at matters of life."
"With Lightning's new cub?"
"Yes."
It somehow felt much less awkward to talk to him about such matters. Aragorn was likely far more practical about life from his many years in the wild.
"Not really. I'm still learning about that. The mothers trust me and want some help for... that... just in case anything goes wrong."
"Well, if you want the knowledge of a Ranger, I would be willing to teach you about some herbs that help to numb pain. That might greatly help them."
"Thank you. That would be very helpful to know."
He realized that he hadn't shared the good news with them yet.
"So, everyone, I have a couple announcements. First, I've been adopted into Toothless's family."
"Oh, really?" "How's that work?" "Congratulations."
"Second, Toothless can fly on his own now. I... built him a new tailfin that he can use to fly on his own."
"Bet he's glad about that." "Good for him!" "Indeed? How fascinating."
"Third, Toothless has a mate now."
"Is it Moonbeam? She is beautiful." "It's her, isn't it?" "I am glad to hear it."
"Yep, it's her."
Gandalf's eyebrows lifted; he had remained out of the conversation until that point.
"I was under the impression that there was an obstacle to that. Unless anything has changed... such as the tailfin and free flight again."
There was a knowing and piercing look in the Wizard's gaze, so he looked away from the Wizard.
"Well, Toothless being able to fly on his own surely helped them."
Gandalf got up and rested a hand on his shoulder.
"Indeed? Would you please take a short walk with me, Master Haddock?"
Oh great, he knows...
"Sure."
"We'll save your plate for you," Merry said.
He got up and followed Gandalf outside. Gandalf, as was not uncommon for him since returning from Isengard, carried his sling-bag over his shoulder.
They stood outside the main entrance to the Golden Hall where they could overlook much of Edoras and the surrounding plains and mountains in the west. The morning wind stroked Gandalf's pure white robes and beard.
"I sense that something is changed about you. Do you wish to speak of it?" Gandalf kindly asked.
While it was shameful to let anyone else know the truth of how bad he had been to Toothless, it also felt right to tell Gandalf the truth. He knew that he could tell the Wizard the truth without being judged or despised. There might be no one better to give advice than him.
He still closed his eyes and took a deep breath before recounting any of it.
"I made him the tailfin because I realized that I was trying to keep him needing me. Part of me wanted him to not be able to fly on his own."
"Do you know why?"
"Maybe. I was always unneeded by my old tribe and useless for anything they wanted. But then Toothless needed me. I was afraid that we wouldn't be friends if he was free and didn't need me to help him fly. And... I cannot do as much in the world without him or the Furies helping me."
He slumped slightly.
"I don't think I was always like that, clinging to him when I should let him be free. I don't know where I went wrong..."
"I do," Gandalf whispered.
"What? How?" he gasped in shock.
"You said it yourself. You felt as though you were weak, unneeded, and powerless in your old tribe. Then you befriended a powerful dragon and therefore got his fire and wings as your own, in a way. Having someone stronger present to fix your problems for you means that you do not need to become stronger on your own. Your ability to do anything or make a difference becomes one with having him do it for you."
"That sounds about right, yeah."
"All that it would take is a great loss or some other push to make you want to hold onto him as something that is yours. I have seen it happen to soldiers who are so attached to their horse or their favorite sword that they lose all courage without their favored mount or blade."
"A push? I don't understand."
Gandalf again lay a hand on his shoulder.
"Think. The kindling was there in you, so to speak, but it needed a spark. A spark like the idea that you are nothing without your dragon. Does any of that sound familiar?"
He thought about it. What Gandalf said did sound... vaguely familiar, but where had he heard that before?
"Have you ever been near a great evil that twists and corrupts what is in the hearts of men?" Gandalf prodded.
He froze, staring into another world as he remembered it.
The Council in Rivendell. Picking up the Ring after it abandoned the pedestal. Feeling how precious it had been in his palm.
Hearing its whispered words that felt so true and which he felt echoing in his heart. Had that fear of abandonment always been there deep inside himself and then been strengthened by his encountering a true evil?
"The Ring..." he snarled.
Gandalf clapped him on the shoulder.
"Partially. I imagine that this neediness could have manifested even without the Ring, such as if you lost someone else dear to you and you blamed yourself for it. However, the Ring assuredly had a great and terrible influence on you; it made you more... possessive of him. Fortunately, you saw its influence for what it was, and that is more than most men can say. With that alone you did what nine great Kings of men could not do."
"It doesn't feel like I did anything great. I was just doing what I should have done long ago..."
"And it is a deed well done. To give one whom you love freedom so that their life can be more than it was before is indeed a great deed. If more people were as selfless as you, Hiccup Haddock, this world would be a far merrier place."
He reluctantly grinned. As usual, simply being around Gandalf seemed to encourage him and lift his sullen mood.
"Thanks. What happens next in the war?"
Gandalf frowned and dropped a hand to his carrying bag. He also gazed off into the southeast.
"I still do not know even after giving much thought to it. Many places there are where the Enemy would seek to strike: Erebor, Lindon, Mirkwood, Lorien, another strike on Rohan, the lands of Gondor are many, Tolfalas, or somewhere else. There are so many pieces on the board now."
Anticipating an enemy's strategy in a war involving the entire continent was surely very complex.
"If I may, Galadriel had that... magic pool that let her see far away. What about that? Can you do something like that?"
Gandalf paused before answering.
"There is one way that I could better learn the Enemy's plan. I could indeed see far away, but it is perilous. Saruman himself was ensnared using the same method."
"I don't understand..."
Gandalf smiled at his confusion.
"You need not worry about it. I will continue to think on this matter. We should all enjoy this calm before the inevitable storm."
Gandalf then left, put his arms behind his back, and started to wander through Edoras. The Wizard was surely occupied with... Wizard things or plans relating to the war.
Why does he keep so many secrets?
He spun around to head back inside to finish his breakfast when he saw that Pippin was standing there at the front door.
"Hey Pippin, what are you doing?"
"Thinking..."
"That's dangerous..." he teased.
"Do you feel like Gandalf is keeping secrets from us?" Pippin asked.
"Well, he is a Wizard, so probably, yeah."
Pippin frowned and crossed his arms.
"I wish he didn't do that."
"Remember what Frodo said? Do not meddle in the affairs of Wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger!"
"I know, but we have been meddling in his affairs for months now. There is something odd about that glass ball."
"Huh?"
"Oh yes, a dark glass ball. I found it at Isengard, and Gandalf took it from me. Didn't even thank me for saving it from getting lost either..."
Hiccup shrugged.
"He probably knows best if that glass ball is magic."
Pippin frowned at that and watched the idly-pacing Gandalf.
"I just wish that we'd get to actually do something important on this Fellowship. We've done nothing but get captured and watch as the Ents do their walking-trees-stomping-on-orcs thing."
This was not the first time he had heard mention of the Ents, though he had not seen one himself. The Fellowship had told stories of the Ents, and several packmates had mentioned that they saw walking trees in the Fangorn forest, though no one went down into that forest for any reason. That had been a precaution suggested by Gandalf to the pack through the Alphas.
"Well, you weren't in the cold wilderness for over a month. Over two months, actually."
Pippin looked interested about that.
"Right, you and Toothless were up in the Northern Waste. That's where you found the rest of the pack," Pippin said.
"Yep, it was very balmy and fun-in-the-sun up there."
"I bet. Did you get to work on your tan up there?"
He rolled up his sleeves to show off his lack of a tan.
"Impressive. And I thought I saw everything on this mission... quest... thing. Now I've seen a ghost," Pippin teased.
"Gee, thanks for that. Anyway, I'd like to finish breakfast. Want to hear about some of our adventures up there in the North?"
"Sounds great! What are you going to be doing all day?
"I'll be in the forge all day."
"Doing what?"
"I want to keep that a surprise until it's finished."
Pippin frowned.
"Can I get a hint?"
"It involves flying."
"Considering that your life involves dragons... that's not much of a hint. Oh well, I'll find out eventually."
"You sure will. How about you and Merry? What are you up to?"
"Not much, as usual. Aragorn said he would help train us more in combat, just in case. He wanted to... pick up... where Boromir left off."
"What do you mean?"
Pippin frowned and slumped.
"Boromir was teaching us self-defense. Just a few weeks of training with him and we graduated from, as he put it, 'hopeless' to 'novice'. He was so happy when we learned to block and parry for the first time. But then he... well, you know what happened."
He clasped Pippin's shoulder.
"Yeah. Toothless and I never really knew him except at the Council, but he seemed like a brave man even there."
"He was."
"Let's go finish our breakfast. Sounds like we have a long day ahead of us."
Pippin nodded and followed him after glancing one more time toward Gandalf in the distance.
Hiccup rubbed his hands and cracked his knuckles while looking over everything on the tables in his forge. He had all the needed supplies lined up and organized.
Perfect, this is all coming together nicely. Now just gotta get to it without any distractions.
"Hey Haddock! Are you in there?"
He hopped in surprise and spun on around as Adney strolled into the forge. She looked around and saw that the tables were covered in the various supplies: piles of leather, charcoal, metal support beams, thread, hinges, joints, screws, steel balls, and an assortment of tools.
"Oh, Adney... hey there. I'm, uh, here."
"What are you doing?"
"I'm... making an outfit."
"Weren't you doing that a few days ago?"
"Yeah, but I got distracted on something... more important."
"What was that?" she asked while leaning against a table.
"I was making Toothless a new tailfin that lets him fly on his own. He... deserves to be able to fly freely."
"Impressive."
"Oh, he also a mate now."
Her eyebrows rose.
"Really? Who is it?"
"Moonbeam. She's the older Light Fury. She has purple eyes, a scar on her chest, and she has kept to herself a lot until now," he explained.
Adney nodded.
"I've seen her and her sister. Everyone has. Those two might be the most beautiful in the pack. At least they're different from the others. Good for him. So what is this outfit you're making?"
"I'll give you a hint..."
He held out his arms and flapped them. She looked at him as though he had grown another head.
"A chicken suit?"
"What? No, a flight suit. You know, wings and flying..."
She blinked and stared at him without saying anything for a long time, so he defiantly stared back at her.
"So, it's not good enough to just ride them. You are going to make a flight suit so that you can fly like the dragons. Are you serious?"
He crossed his arms.
"Yes."
"Alright, that sounds fun. How can I help?"
"Wait, what?"
She stepped over next to him and looked down at the table's contents.
"Yeah. You know flying, but I know leather and you probably need a lot of it. Do you have a design?"
"Somewhere here..."
He found the schematics and smoothed out the drawing on the table. Unlike the automatic tailfin, the flight suit had needed a design since he hadn't made anything remotely like it before.
She frowned as she inspected the plans, drawing a finger across the parchment while grumbling to herself.
"Not too bad... this might work..." she muttered.
It felt like a good time to ask her something he had been wondering about.
"How long have you worked the forge?" he asked.
"Since I was five."
"About the same for me. Did you have a teacher?"
"My father, mostly. You?"
"Tribal blacksmith. His name was Gobber the... actually, that part's not important. Point is that he taught me everything I know. Even though he had only one arm and leg."
"How did he lose the other arm and leg?" she asked.
"Dragons. Not Night Furies."
She stepped back from the table and fiddled with the smoldering fire in the furnace, poking the ashes with a poker.
"I see. How bad was the fighting, really, if you don't mind me asking?"
He didn't like sharing details about how dangerous and violent dragons could be, but it felt different talking about this with her. She could be trusted to be understanding about this.
"Not at all. The dragons attacked, all different kinds, usually once a month. They were being used by another, bigger dragon to do its hunting for it. The raids themselves... you can imagine the village burning and dangerous dragons swarming above while searching for the sheep and other livestock. Someone died every other raid or so."
"Sounds terrible."
"Not terrible enough to make the tribe just leave. Too stubborn for that. I don't think anything could make them want to leave their home. And, as much as everyone hated the dragons, the raids were... something that brought the tribe together. They had a reason to be defiant and stubborn."
He leaned back against the table.
"To be honest, I don't know if I could have changed that place. I'd have to have changed so many of their traditions. Those aren't a problem here."
Adney shrugged and came back to the table.
"We don't really know dragons as monsters, except in stories. Still, we can be very stubborn in our own ways."
"Yeah, but you didn't stay here at Edoras to fight the Uruks. You retreated to somewhere you could defend yourselves. Berk would not have done that. They would have stayed here and died glorious deaths."
She idly nodded and then pointed to the pile of leather on the table.
"Well, if you want some help with the flight suit I can get started on cutting the arm-wings."
"Fine by me. If you don't mind the work."
"Of course not. All the swords and spears are sharpened for now, and this is something different to work on for a change."
"Alright, let's get to it."
"It also sounds like flying could be fun. If you don't fall from the sky and die, of course," she grinned.
"Thank you for summing that up."
"Glad to help."
He rolled his eyes.
"First, Toothless and I are both learning to fly on our own, in more ways than one. And I am not going to fall from the sky. He would always be there to catch me even if I did fall. Flying is something I just know, probably like how you know horseback riding."
"If you say..." she shrugged.
Hiccup took a deep breath while standing at Toothless's side on the Furies' slope after a long and very wearying day, physically and emotionally. The beginning of the wingsuit was coming together well with Adney's help, and it would probably be done in a couple days. It was far less mechanically complex than the tailfin, but it made up for that by being more tedious to make with a lot of needed sewing and measurements.
None of that was bothering him.
It was time to formally reveal a couple of very important things to the pack. One of them was entirely good and unlikely to bother anyone, but the other was a detail that he hoped did not cause problems with anyone.
Far-Flight and Sky-Dancer roared aloud a call of summons. The rest of the pack hopped down from their rocks and trotted up the slope to crowd around them.
"Far-Flight, Sky-Dancer, you called us!" Flame-In-The-Night barked from the front of the assembled pack.
"Yes, we must speak about something good!" Sky-Dancer roared.
Far-Flight beckoned to him with a flick of his head.
It's go time...
Hiccup stepped over to them and stood at Sky-Dancer's front. She rested her chin on his shoulder while purring very deeply.
"Far-Flight and I have named Hiccup our cub!" she roared.
Far-Flight raised his voice.
"He is one of us as if he has our blood! We want all in the pack to know this!"
"We hear and know! This is good!" Flame-In-The-Night cried aloud.
The rest of the pack purred loudly in approval from where they lay gathered nearby. Eyes of all different colors were wide with warmth.
Snowfall hopped to her paws and trotted over to stand before him.
"We are not surprised. Many of us were thinking of you as one of Far-Flight's and Sky-Dancer's young already."
Hiccup smiled back at them and held onto Sky-Dancer's neck as she purred. Then he nodded at Toothless.
Here goes nothing...
"There is something else we want to let the pack know. Burning-Star..."
Toothless stepped forward and sat down, holding his head and shoulders high to look over the pack. Moonbeam hopped over to him without any prompting and similarly sat down at his side. They entwined their tails in full view of all in the pack.
"Moonbeam and I are mates now."
As expected, there was much purring of approval as all the present pairs came forward to greet them with licks and purrs of approval. There was one adult who did not come forward.
There was no regret. He and Jumps-At-Fire could not have been happy together; they were too different in what they wanted from life. But he did care for her because he understood her and felt some of her pain.
He waited until all the other pairs had departed for their ledges, and then he and Moonbeam walked back to their kin.
"We will go flying soon," he purred.
"You probably won't be back tonight, right?" Hiccup chuckled.
"Probably not. We are new life-mates."
"Burning-Star still needs practice with his new tailfin," Moonbeam added after whispering to Mystery.
Toothless agreed entirely. The new-tailfin could possibly be improved after he had more time to learn flight again, but that was an issue for later.
"Alright then, off with you two. Happy... flying!" Hiccup said.
Toothless huffed at how twisted Hiccup could be, and then he turned away from his kin. Moonbeam followed him on the ground as they walked along the slope and among the rest of the pack.
There was something he needed to do before flying off with her. He and she had already talked about doing this for the good of everyone involved.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" she whispered.
"Yes, it might feel twisting, but I must do this. Stay with me."
"Always," she nudged his shoulder.
They walked together until they came upon a lone packmate on the side of the pack. Jumps-At-Fire stared at them without looking away as they approached. It was twisted to be talking to her with Moonbeam right there with him, but they were all part of the pack. Making sure that their future flights would be peaceful was important.
He calmly strode up before her and then sat down with Moonbeam at his shoulder.
"Jumps-At-Fire, I wanted to talk to you."
"What is there to say?" Jumps-At-Fire whispered.
"I have seen you being more part of the pack in the last moon-cycle. That is good."
Jumps-At-Fire hopped down from her rock and walked away from the pack. He and Moonbeam followed her until she stopped far enough away that the pack could not hear.
"You told her?" Jumps-At-Fire asked.
"Yes, she knows what we were doing, and she knows why we stopped," he answered.
Jumps-At-Fire huffed softly and lay her head on her paws.
"I should say that I am warmed for you. But now there is no one for me even if I change," she said.
"No one for you how? I will not be with you, but I do not want you to have a cold life-flight."
"What do you mean?" Jumps-At-Fire sighed.
"Maybe you should try to make a human friend: someone you can trust and not fear would be twisted. Maybe you will find that flying more with the pack is warming enough that you do not need or want mating. Maybe we will find other dark wings somewhere or more will fly to us. I would still be kin to you."
Moonbeam stepped forward from his shoulder.
"We wanted to tell you to not try anything twisted with us. We do not want to hurt you or have any problems with you. Do not give me a reason to want you dead," she calmly said.
Jumps-At-Fire looked back and forth between them until she hung her head and looked away.
"I will not. You are both strong and warm, far more than me. You deserve to be happy; I do not."
He was not sure if she was trying to make him pity her. She was not unwilling to trick to get her way, but he wanted to give her the benefit of doubt.
"Do not say that. You are not bad, only twisted in thinking and also afraid. You can change and grow if you want to," he objected.
"Change? I need a reason to change. There is no good that would come from changing into wanting something I cannot have," Jumps-At-Fire countered.
"Yes, there is," Moonbeam answered for him, "You should do it for yourself. Be free of the bad thoughts that have pushed your flight until now. Do that and you will feel more peace. I know."
Jumps-At-Fire and Moonbeam stared at each other for many wingbeats until Jumps-At-Fire turned away and started for the pack.
"I will try..." she sighed.
They watched her until she lay down to return to rest, as usual a slight distance from everyone else. He also thought she might have been trembling a little, though he could not be certain of that. Still, the little he saw was very soul-fire chilling. She kept to herself and did not, as far as he knew, confide in anyone else in the pack. It was unlikely that she could change on her own.
He still wanted to help her, as she was a packmate whom he understood possibly better than she did herself. But giving her the help that she truly needed might be difficult, and it would have to be given in a way that did not hurt him or Moonbeam.
She had a painful life and learned many bad ways of...
Then he gave a yelp of surprise at the pinch on his tail. He spun around and saw that Moonbeam had his tail in her jaws.
"You!"
She shook the tail while growling, dropped the tail, and laughed as she hopped up to nuzzle his neck.
"You did well with that, my dear mate," she hummed.
He nipped one of her ears and nuzzled her neck while stroking her tail.
"We should fly now, my dear mate," he growled.
"Yes, we should," she slyly purred.
They jumped and flew off together into the night.
Hiccup watched as Toothless and Moonbeam walked away together. Then he walked back to Sky-Dancer and beheld her wide green eyes following him.
"Sky-Dancer, do you mind?" he gestured toward her side.
"My cub," she purred.
He grinned at her calling him her cub. It was still strange, but it was also very endearing.
I might get used to it.
She lifted a wing and let him snuggle in at her side while Breath-Of-Sky lay on her other side. Far-Flight rested at her front with his eyes closed and his head on his paws. Mystery lay on Far-Flight's other side. Everyone had agreed that letting her rest with them was best for tonight.
Every Fury's purring and humming was subtly different, and he knew a few well enough to distinguish them.
Theirs sounded and felt like family by now. Still, being there cast his idle thoughts far into the past. What was his true mother like? How different might everything have been if she hadn't been killed? There was no way to know.
Sky-Dancer curled her head around and gazed at him, looking as though she wanted to say something.
"Yes?"
"Son, Burning-Star has a warm mate now. What about you? Do you see a female you want? How does the ceremony happen for humans? We do not know."
He groaned.
"I'm not really sure myself now. Different packs have different ceremonies or customs, but most agree that... making pairs is about more than only making cubs. Both in the marriage... in the pair must want the other to be happy, at least somewhat."
She hummed.
"We are much like that also. Most of life does go to hunting and providing for cubs and the mate who is with the cubs more, but those in a pair also talk and fly together for fun and the warmth of life only."
Then she chuffed.
"Do you want to find a mate?"
He rolled his eyes.
"Ugh, maybe. I don't know. I'm not as big and strong as most guys..."
"True, you are not as big as the fighters, but you have other strength."
"You think so?"
"Yes," she hummed, "Would any other human have tried to learn about us or be warm to us?"
"Maybe, but probably not from my old pack... other than my lost mother. Other than her, there was probably too much history between dragons and humans there. No one else wanted peace."
She grumbled.
"Well, we do not know human ceremonies, but we are sure that you will impress a female if you try."
He shrugged.
Well, there's always hope, even if only a fool's hope...
"Maybe, but that's not so important for me. I'd rather just focus on the pack and looking out for all of us."
She nodded.
"I understand, son. We will not push your flight on this."
"Thanks, mom."