31. A romantic flight

"Come on, slowpoke, hurry up!" Syn called out into the distance, continuing to jog through the thick forest beyond the village. A few seconds passed before Hiccup finally came up walking, or rather limping, alongside Toothless, holding on tight to the dragon's head for needed support, with Alvis babbling and holding on to Toothless' back where the saddle was. Hiccup was still getting used to the prosthetic leg  Asmund had made for him, a wooden block tied to a metal spring that acted as his foot.

When he first woke up with it attached, he was horrified but somehow had managed to hold it all in; really, it surprised him at how calmly he reacted to the overwhelming change. Having this limb would mean he would have to learn how to do basic things like walk, run, jump and swim all over again, and the first time was none too pleasant. He'd recalled times when his father had tried to drown him in the ocean to teach him how to swim, or threaten to club his head in to teach him how to run. He supposed what made him calm was the fact that now he and Toothless were truly one in the same now, both missing a piece of themselves, taken by the other, along with the fact that he'd decided he'd make a few tweaks to the leg to better suit his preferences.

"You know, walking with a metal foot isn't as easy as I'm sure I make it look! Where are we going, anyway?" Hiccup questioned as Syn suddenly rushed up to him and dragged him through the woods to a large clearing in the tall pine trees. Toothless appeared right behind him soon after, moving as fast as he could without disturbing Alvis.

Hiccup was heavily panting, his hands on his jelly-like knees continuously failing to catch his breath. His stamina had been significantly reduced since he hadn't spent much time awake and his body was still recovering, and the added weight of the metal limb only made him more tired. Syn had been warned by the elders and her father not to push Hiccup too much, but she was so excited she had forgotten completely, and now was just crossing her arms and tapping her foot waiting for Hiccup to get his bearings.

"This can be counted as cruel and unusual punishment, I'll have you know! What is this all about?" Hiccup managed to loudly complain in between breaths.

"I wanna ride Toothless!" She exclaimed suddenly when he finally calmed himself and looked up and saw her jumping up and down like a hyperactive 5 year old.

Hiccup gave her an obvious 'what the hell' look with his mouth still hanging wide open. "Seriously? You've already flown on a dragon – you told me you flew Storm and that timberjack all the way to the nest. Why drag me all the way out here to ride some other dragon, namely Toothless?"

Syn was still bouncing as she answered. "I want the full dragon-riding experience, why else?"

"But that doesn't explain what makes Toothless so special." Hiccup said, earning him a slap from the dragon's tail. Hiccup rubbed his cheek to ease the pain of the fresh mark and glared daggers at Toothless. "Ow!! You know what I mean, you stupid overgrown lizard!" Toothless just rolled his eyes and smirked – obviously his doting, overprotective phase of waiting by his bedside expecting him to wake up was over.

"You're the best dragon rider around, and no dragon matches up to a Night Fury like Toothless." Syn said, finally calm and placing her hands on her hips. Clearly she wasn't satisfied with just flying from one place to another. Like she said, she wanted the full experience, and that came with all the daredevil, haphazard tricks Toothless was known to do.

"Okay then," Hiccup said with a sigh, automatically climbing on top of Toothless, locking his metal foot into the new stirrup that Asmund had constructed with a click. The new tail fin that Asmund constructed with the help of Hiccup's blueprints opened up all the way – it was a red leather fin with the a skull and two bone crossed on its mouth, the symbol of the Silent Wolf. "Just be careful with Alvis, alright? You may be ready to risk your life, but I don't think I'm ready to have my kid do the same." He picked Alvis up off the front of the saddle and handed her to Syn, her hands taking both of his sides and holding the infant against her.

Syn's smile melted off her face before she started looking around her own body, looking for something on her person it seemed. Her face suddenly brightened up and she handed Alvis to Hiccup and rolled up her shirt slightly exposing her soft skin. Hiccup, with his hormones raging, felt his face flush and burn with the reddest blush he had ever had, thinking she might do something a bit perverted.

"What are you-" Hiccup started to ask, but stopped himself upon realizing that Syn had a rope hanging in a large coil at her hip. Once her shirt was rolled up, she took the rope and wrapped it three times around her waist like a belt. She undid the small knot that was against the rope tied around her near the first end of the rope, took back Alvis and gently tied the rope around his own small waist before tying the other end of the rope to the ring on Toothless's saddle that Hiccup's own safety harness was also hooked onto. She gave a smart look at Hiccup, who was still blushing, easily able to tell what the immature boy might have been thinking, as she climbed onto Toothless back with Alvis in her grip.

"Uh, y-you know, I did that same thing a while ago," Hiccup pointed out, sweeping back his bangs and trying to forget those dirty thoughts by clearing his throat. He had never felt so embarrassed in his life.

"Good," Syn said straightly with that same knowing look fixated onto him. "Then it isn't a bad idea to tie a rope around him." She gripped Hiccup's waist with her other hand, returning the blush to his face slightly. She put Alvis down and wrapped her other arm around him as well, sandwiching the baby in between the two teens.

"We're going on an adventure!" Syn shrieked readily gazing up at the sky, jiggling up and down in the saddle and giving Toothless a makeshift back massage.

"Hold on tight!" Hiccup warned gripping the rope and crouching down. Toothless rose to his hind legs and took off at a near perfect vertical angle. His speed was like that of an arrow, rocketing upward so quick the skin off his three riders flapped back and their hair flew the same way. The trees had been reduced to dots in mere seconds and they shifted directions to fly forward over the ocean. Syn screamed in pure excitement, even literally throwing caution to the wind and throwing her hands outward to feel the full force of the wind on her body. Alvis started giggling like crazy again: Hiccup swore that kid was born to fly, he took after his father that way.

Hiccup steered Toothless as they started spinning, swiveling and doing loop-de-loops in the air; Toothless took no shortage of delight in Syn's shrieks and screams, loving the enthusiasm that seemed infectious among all three of his riders. When he'd decided she was ready for more, they turned and fell for the ocean, pulling up only a second before hitting the water, skimming along the surface and letting the tiny drops of water tickle and refresh the children's faces. Toothless took notice of Hiccup's face and saw the wide beaming smile: it filled his heart to see Hiccup so happy and unrestricted by that new leg. He could tell his rider needed cheering up, and flying was just what the doctor ordered. They pulled back up to the sky and started swerving and looping around some more, bobbing up and down throughout the sky. After a while of the demented roller-coaster ride, Toothless settled down and began gliding along, allowing the four of them to simply take in the view.

Syn ran her hand through the now salmon colored clouds, softly grasping the clumps of air and feeling their soft touch as well as the moisture within freeze her fingers as they flew toward the sunset. Toothless climbed up past the lower clouds to a virtual maze filled with large towering columns of them mimicking the sea stacks far below. The rays of the sunset shined upon the clouds, creating brilliant golden hues across the sky scape, taking Syn's breath away. Rising even higher into the clear sky that was only now being redone with the first signs of night, Syn could see shooting stars above, flying past them in blazes of glory, her eyes widening in wonder as she followed their path until they were gone from sight. Hiccup soon redirected Toothless back to Selardalr, pulling him down from the clouds and giving Syn a stunning clear view of the sunset behind her, the last beams of its light shimmering upon the water behind her.

"He's even more amazing than I thought," Syn mused, petting Toothless side. "And I already thought he was amazing." Toothless looked back at her and grunted in satisfaction.

"He's a great dragon," Hiccup agreed. "And an amazing friend. I never would have figured that my first friend would be a dragon, but he was always there for me when I needed him."

"Didn't fit in at Berk, huh?" Syn asked the obvious in an obvious voice.

"You know well and good that no one appreciated me back there," Hiccup pointed out with a cold tone, bitterly looking down to his hands gripping the rope. "'Specially not my dad"

"Hey, it's just like I've been saying, Hiccy," Syn said, the wind blowing her hair back, pressing her finger and pushing against Hiccup's baby-like cheeks. Hiccup looked out the corner of his eye to hide the blush at her nickname. "If they can't accept you for who you are, they shouldn't have you at all! Really, just forget about them, they were the ones dumb enough to pass you by!"

Hiccup thought about her words for a few moments, his silence catching Toothless' attention and eliciting a soft coo from him. Toothless was reinforcing Syn's advice, Hiccup deduced, with his eyebrows furrowing down. He let out a hefty scoff and chuckled under his breath ironically. "You know what? You're right! What's it to me what happens to those jerks? I mean, I beat the Red Death and pretty much solved everybody's problems with the raids – I shouldn't care! What those guys do now is not my problem!" He could say he missed them a tiny bit and was worried about all his old neighbors, but then he'd be lying. What did he miss: Snotlout's pompous attitude and constant bullying? The twins' dangerous pranks and deadly sense of humor? The villagers pelting him with everything from rude comments to rotten fruit? Astrid's cold indifference at it all? Or his father's exasperated look of shame and annoyance at him? Berk provided a lot of memories, and none of them were good; Hiccup figured it was finally time to do what everyone else was now preparing to do and put the past behind him.

Hiccup finally turned and smiled at her. "Thanks, I... I always felt there was something holding me back, but I think now I'm finally ready to move on with my life. You know, you're a pretty magnificent friend too," he praised.

"Thanks Hiccup," Syn said, patting Hiccup's shoulder and offering a warm smile in consolation. "Hey, maybe one day, they'll realize just how much they need you." She shrugged.

"Yeah, like when Ragnarok hits the Archephelego." Hiccup deadpanned sarcastically said. Syn laughed at the joke, it probably would take the end of the world for those idiots to realize just what Hiccup to offer. Really, in the face of everything he had done, Hiccup had gone from amazing to god-sent in her eyes. She and everyone else could see what he truly was and what he could become, in fact they probably knew him better than he knew himself. It was so astounding how greatly he had changed everything for them, and she knew things were only getting better from her. Just now, though, the rest of the world could wait; right now, she only saw herself and Hiccup, what awaited them, and it made her heart beat faster and faster.

Just as the sun was about to come down over the horizon and dusk was about to fall, they had reached the edge of the woods outside of Selardalr. Hiccup landed Toothless on the spot just outside the border of the forest, upon a small meadow that led to the sandy beaches on the west side, the tides shifting upon the shores of sand and crashing against the rocks to the side. Hiccup leapt off the saddle and checked on Alvis, untying the rope that Syn secured on him and giving his belly a little tickle, getting more giggles in return. He shook his prosthetic and prepared himself for the long trek home, giving Toothless' head a good rub and securing himself against his dragon's side; that's when he turned around and noticed that Syn was staring at him with her hands behind her back, a slightly dreamy expression on her face. She was only inches away from him and shuffling ever closer, causing Hiccup's face to blush hard once again, this time with as much heat and much different then when he stared at Astrid back on Berk.

"S-something wrong?" Hiccup slightly stuttered.

"Oh, nothing.~" Syn said, taking a step towards him, forcing Hiccup to taking a step back. Syn felt as if she was now really looking at him for the first time, how his vibrant green eyes simply radiated like the moon in the night sky, the beautiful shade of auburn that his flowing locks were, and how cute his cheeks were decked out in freckles. He spoke softly, but could roar like a dragon when he needed to, he was nothing short of a genius in the forge crafting the most incredible inventions in his imagination and bringing them out into the real world so swiftly. His shoulders... they seemed much broader now, and when he wasn't limping, he stood a bit taller, but that came with being a hero. She continued to move forward, taking all these features in and more.

"Uh, w-we should probably get you home," Hiccup said nervously backing up two small steps for every one of Syn's large ones. He gestured back to the village's direction with a point of his thumb. "Your dad's probably wondering where you are and-"

Syn remained silent and gently backed him into a tree as she leaned in on him. Hiccup let out an audible gulp and started sweating buckets despite the frigid temperature at how close he was to a girl. In this light, she did seem significantly more attractive, Hiccup can admitted, leagues above Astrid, but where would he end up with her if he decided to blurt that out. Hiccup simply grasped the tree with clawed out hands, scratching the bark with his fingernails frantically like a dragon catching the side of a cliff, and tried to back further in, but to his dismay he couldn't. Hiccup looked to Toothless for backup, only for Toothless to smirk smugly and shift around before laying down on the ground with his tail curled around him. If that didn't say 'you're on your own,' Hiccup didn't know what did.

"Um, Syn," Hiccup said in a cracked pubescent voice, ignoring Toothless' betrayal. "I'm getting really freaked out right now."

"Maybe that's a good thing," Syn said with a sly smile, pressing her hands against his small chest. She turned her head slightly and closed her eyes, coming in and pressing her soft, cherry-sweet lips against his own. Hiccup soon shut down and followed suit, kissing her right back and wrapping his arms around her waist, regaining his balance and standing tall.

That was the real start of something entirely new, the real start to the new life to a hiccup.

TO BE CONTINUED~

From the next chapter , The future will be shown and what happened in those time skip...What Berk looks like after Hiccup left... And what did Hiccup do after recovering....  

I know that there are some readers who kept thinking how am I posting on both books with some hours or day..And the answer is when my exams were a little far , I had some free time after studies so I wrote some drafts before taking a full break.. Thats why some are done and some are not .. And that's how I can upload next chapters . And since I don't have studies for two months , I can work freely on  two books :)