Chapter 23

Hiccup rushed them back to the island the moment he could see the sun peeking over the horizon. Though there were many complaints, Hiccup quickly silenced them with a stern look and a growl. Soon they were soaring above the clouds, flying at what could be considered a brisk pace but without any further complaints. Thankfully, the sparkling paint that covered Sharpshot, Barf and Belch had long since been washed off, so nothing could tip off any threats that could be lurking beneath the clouds to their whereabouts. 

In a couple hours, they arrived at their island and zipped into their cave, finding Stormfly preening and Meatlug taking nap inside. 

"Captain!" Meatlug exclaimed as they flew in, relief filling her gaze. 

"You're back!" Stormfly said, "What took you so long? We've been worried sick, and Hookfang wouldn't let us go looking for you." 

Sighing with relief, Hiccup gave them a calming smile, "Don't worry, I just slept for a bit longer than normal after the Celebration. I was worried that something might have happened to you guys because you hadn't come looking for us. But I was hoping that Hookfang was just being cautious." 

"Well, you were right," Stormfly said, ruffling her wings with disdain. "He wouldn't let us step even a single claw off of the island. But he's been patrolling the borders looking out for you every day since the sunset marked a week with you gone." 

"I wonder how he didn't see us fly in," Toothless pondered. 

"He was probably just on the other side of the island," Sharpshot said. 

Hiccup hummed noncommittally, "I'll call for him." 

With purpose in his step, Hiccup turned around and marched towards the cave entrance. He filled his lungs with air before spreading his wings out wide and letting out a roar. It echoed through the walls, rattling the stone beneath his feet as his call spread out of the tunnel and into the air. The dragons behind him jumped back with a start at the suddenness of it, but Hiccup nodded approvingly at, folding his wings against his back again and sitting down. 

For a couple minutes he sat staring into the tunnel, the only sound being the raging crash of the waterfall expanding down into the cave. Hiccup payed close attention to his senses, having heard Hookfang's wing beats the second he sat down, and continued to listen to them draw closer and closer. The Blaze Builder's ragged breath also registered in his ears, and the amount of time it was taking him to get back tot he cave suggested that he had been far away when Hiccup called. Farther away than he could have been had he still been on the island. 

Hookfang frantically flew into the cave, his eyes widening when he saw Hiccup sitting there as he barreled towards him at full speed. The Blaze Builder let out a roar of alarm, twisting as he tried not to slam into Hiccup, and nose dived straight into the rock. He skidded along the hard ground, coming to a halt at Hiccup's feet, who still sat there calmly. 

"You okay there, Hookfang?" Hiccup asked, smirking slightly.

He groaned, stumbling on to his feet, "Thanks, Captain, never better. Your call startled me. I don't think I've ever heard you do that before. When did you get back?"

"Only a few minutes ago," Hiccup replied. "Where were you?" 

Hookfang gave him a confused look, "What do you mean?" 

"Well, it took you far too long to get here and your wing beats seemed to come from miles away, so you couldn't have been patrolling the island," Hiccup said. "So, where were you?" 

"Oh, I was, uh, somewhere," Hookfang replied, stumbling over his words. 

"Somewhere?" Hiccup asked pointedly. 

"On another island." 

"Doing what?" 

"...Scouting." 

"Scouting?" 

"Yes."

"Alright, give me the truth, Hookfang," Hiccup declared. "And don't you dare tell me that you were looking for me, because I know you're smarter than that." 

Hookfang grumbled, "I was visiting a Flight on a nearby island." 

"Why?" Hiccup asked, tilting his head. 

"I was just visiting," Hookfang said. 

"Who?" 

"The Leader." 

Hiccup's pupils thinned, "And why were you visiting the Leader?" 

"Because I wanted to," Hookfang replied determinedly, but his eyes seemed to betray his guilt. 

A low growl emitted from Hiccup's throat, though he kept his violent instincts down as he rose to his feet. He gave the Blaze Builder a calculating look before approaching him closely. There was a foreign scent on the dragon's scales, and Hiccup sniffed it, examining the scent more closely. He suddenly laughed as the scent wafted into his nose, stepping back from the Blaze Builder and giving Hookfang a teasing look. 

"What?" Hookfang growled defensively, his eyes flashing. 

"Nothing," Hiccup responded, sauntering away and laying down in his usual spot. "It's just that you could have told me that the Leader was a female Blaze Builder, whose scent is all over you." 

Sharpshot snickered from his ledge, "Have you been lying about patrolling the island this whole time, and instead have been courting the Leader of another Flight?" 

"No," Hookfang said sharply. "You're wrong." 

Hiccup looked at him in puzzlement, "Why are you denying it? There's nothing wrong with you connecting with another Blaze Builder." 

"Yes there is," Hookfang sighed, bowing his head. "Because not only is she from another Flight, she's the Leader." 

"So?" Hiccup asked. "Surely this isn't an abnormal occurrence." 

"But if I-" he paused, wincing before saying, "Mate with her, then there is going to be a problem. I've sworn my allegiance to you, and I don't plan on leaving. But she is the Leader of her own Flight, and I doubt she would let go of her own position in order to let me stay under your command." 

Hiccup looked at Hookfang curiously, "Why does any of that matter? You shouldn't worry about it until after you become Mated. If you become Mated. For now, just enjoy being with her. We'll deal with what we have to afterwards." 

Hookfang blinked, "Really? You don't fear for your position as my Captain at all?"

"Hookfang, I won't blame you for falling in love," Hiccup deadpanned. "My position as your Leader has nothing to do with wether or not you become Mated with someone outside of our Flight. For the sake of love, I would let you go from my command with happiness and grace." 

"Oh," Hookfang said, silent for a moment before clearing his throat. "Well, I, um...Thank you." 

"No need to thank me," Hiccup said. "It's just basic decency." 

"Actually, It's not, Hiccup," Toothless said. "Most Leaders would punish Hookfang for trying to leave their Flight." 

"Well, I won't," Hiccup said firmly, slightly disgusted at the idea. "As someone who will never be able to Mate, I would never stand in another dragon's way of getting that themselves." 

Hookfang's gaze filled with gratitude, "Thank you, Captain. You have no idea what this means to me. I'll tell her that you said that." 

Hiccup shook his head, "You don't need to. Now, if you'd like to get back to her, you are free to go." 

"I will," Hookfang said gratefully. "But before I go, I'd like to know why it took you two weeks to get back from the Celebration." 

"Right," Hiccup said. "Well, let's just said that my body needed a lot more time to absorb the extra magic and evolve accordingly." 

"What does that mean?" Stormfly asked. 

Hiccup stood, and the blue glow of his magic fell over his body as he shifted, leaving him in his half dragon form and feeling quite confident. 

"Wow," Meatlug said. 

Stormfly gasped, "You look amazing, Captain!" 

"Where'd you get the gold?" Sharpshot asked. 

"What?" Hiccup asked, confused, because the Singeing Singer had already seen his new form. 

"Where'd you get the gold?" Sharpshot repeated, "Did your mother just have it laying around?" 

Hiccup glanced down at the gold accents scattered around his outfit, "I asked her, but she wasn't very specific as to where she got it. But it was pretty much just lying around." 

"Cool," Sharpshot said. "Oh! Tell them about how we get to torture your Dragonborn powers out of you!" 

"We get to do what now?" Stormfly asked, her eyes sparkling. 

Hiccup sighed, "No, you do not get to torture my Dragonborn powers out of me. My mother is simply going to put me through a series of tests over my next few visits until my powers reveal themselves." 

"We get to put him through misery," Belch said. 

"It's going to be awesome!" Barf added. 

"You will only be helping my mother with the tests if I say that you can," Hiccup said sternly. "I may be okay with you guys perusing romances with dragons from other Flights, but I will not allow you to blatantly disrespect me." 

The two of them lowered their eyes to the ground, bowing their heads down slightly. 

"Sorry, Captain," Belch said. 

"We won't do it again," Barf added. 

Hiccup nodded, "Good. Now you guys can go back to doing whatever it was that you were doing. I can fill you in on what my mother said about the Dragon Hunters tonight." Hiccup looked to Hookfang. "You can go back to your female Blaze Builder friend now." 

"Thank you, Captain," Hookfang said, nodding respectfully to him before flying out of the cave. 

"Have fun, Hookfang," Sharpshot called after him before curling up and beginning to take a nap. 

Meatlug followed the Singeing Singer's example, falling back asleep in the same spot she had been in when Hiccup had flown in. 

"We're going to go fish up some fish," Belch said. 

"Heh, "fish up some fish"," Barf laughed as they took off. 

"Actually, that sounds like a good idea," Stormfly said, and took off after them. 

Smiling, Hiccup curled up where he lay, planning to catch up on some sleep he had missed worrying all night. 

"Hiccup, when did you become a real Leader?" Toothless asked, sounding awed, before he could close his eyes. 

"What do you mean?" Hiccup asked, not raising his head. 

"Well, one moment you're struggling to keep your protective instincts in check, and the next you're establishing your place as Leader like you were born to do it," Toothless said, shaking his head disbelievingly.

Hiccup sat up, "I don't know. But I think it happened some time after I woke up after the Celebration." 

"What happened?" 

Tilting his head, Hiccup thought about it, "I'm not quite sure. But last night, after you had all went to bed, something weird happened. I couldn't sleep. Not until I checked to make sure that you were all safe. So I sat up, and I listened to your breathing. But there was still an itch I couldn't scratch, so I listened to all the dragons in the nests' breathing. I logged every single dragon in the nest into my brain, hearing their hearts beat. The King saw what I was doing, and after I was done, he told me that I could sleep, that he was watching over them. I think at that moment, something clicked. It was subtle, and I didn't really notice it. But I think my instinct to be a Leader finally fit correctly in place." 

Toothless stared at Hiccup thoughtfully for a while, before speaking up. 

"You really were born for this, Hiccup," he said. 

Hiccup smiled, "You know what, Toothless? I think you're right." 

* * * 

Two days later, Hiccup stood in the cave with his Flight, waiting for Hookfang to appear with his new female friend. Hookfang had seemed nervous when he had left, but Hiccup wasn't worrying too much. It was going to be a pleasant meeting, and he would not be late to see his mother the next day because of some possible unknown reason. 

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Hiccup?' Toothless asked him nervously, "I mean, shouldn't we at least wait to see if the Gods will make them Mates?" 

"It'll be fine, Toothless," Hiccup said. "And we could do that, but considering that I've never even heard you talk about dragons dating more than one dragon in their lifetime, I'm guessing that they'll become Mates." 

"What's dating?" Sharpshot asked, landing on Toothless's head. 

"My point exactly," Hiccup said. 

"Not all dragons who court each other become Mates, Hiccup," Toothless said uneasily. 

"How often do they not?" 

"Well, it's rare, but it happens," Toothless protested. 

"How rare?" 

"Most of the time, dragons who court but don't end up Mates usually either die before they can Mate," Stormfly said, "or another dragon swoops in and tries to court one of them. But that's incredibly rare; only dragons of incredibly high status think highly enough of themselves to try and steal another dragon's probable Mate away." 

Toothless groaned, "Stormfly, you're not helping." 

"See," Hiccup said, "it'll be fine." 

"But what if she's threatened by you, Hiccup?" Toothless asked desperately, "She could try and challenge you for Hookfang's allegiance." 

"I'd let her have his allegiance," Hiccup said. "If Hookfang wants to be with her, then he shouldn't have to choose between us." 

"But-" 

Toothless was interrupted by the sound of approaching wing beats, and Hiccup made sure they were all silent as Hookfang and his companion walked in. 

The female Blaze Builder was the one leading them in, an imposing female Blaze Builder that stood a foot taller than Hookfang. Her body was more slender in the ways that females usually were, but her wings, horns, and claws were longer and deadly, her steely onyx gaze blazing against her magenta scales. Hookfang landed beside her, looking nervous. 

"Hello," Hiccup greeted, "it's nice to meet you. Hookfang looked very happy when he spoke about you. 

She looked at him skeptically, skipping the pleasanteries, "You were okay with the idea of one under your command courting a Leader of another Flight?"

Her voice was cold and threatening, but Hiccup smiled casually, "Why would I blame him for pursuing love?" 

Confusedly, she raised an eyebrow, "Because I'm the Leader of another Flight." 

"So?" Hiccup asked, "If a dragon under my command tells me that they've found someone to love, but they can't be with them by my side, then I would happily send them on their way to live their life with any dragon that makes them happy." 

"But then you lose power," she said sharply. 

Hiccup laughed, "Well, then it's a good thing that I don't crave power. My Flight pledged their allegiance to me because I gained their trust and respect, not because I forced it upon them." 

"Then do you not command respect from your inferiors?" she asked harshly, beginning to tense. 

"Of course I do," Hiccup replied seriously. "If a dragon in my Flight disrespects me, I simply remind them of the fact that they pledged their allegiance to me. I don't demand their respect, but I have earned it." 

She looked at him silently for a moment, "And one under your command disregarding their allegiance to you completely to court the Leader of another Flight does not disrespect you?" 

Hiccup considered for a moment, "I suppose it could be seen as disrespect, but I don't see it that way. Hookfang didn't disrespect me by finding care for you, because it's simply part of dragon nature to find another to love. It may seem to be disrespect to you, but as someone who is almost guaranteed to never find a Mate, I see love in the way that it is. Love can come from anywhere, any dragon, and it could never be disrespectful for trying to find it." 

For a minute, she continued to stare at him critically, though Hiccup thought her gaze might have softened slightly at his words. 

"Why can you never find a Mate?" she asked quietly after a moment. 

Hiccup glanced at Hookfang, tensing up, "Did Hookfang not tell you?" 

"Tell me what?" she asked, her nostrils flaring. 

"Well," Hiccup said carefully, not having seen a dragon unable to tell what he was before, "Dragonborn can't Mate with dragons, only other Dragonborn and Bonded humans. And the Great Skies happen to have a bit of a shortage of both of them at this current moment." 

She took a startled step back, looking at him with wide eyes, "You're Dragonborn?" 

"Yes," Hiccup said, "I'm surprised you haven't smelled it on me yet." 

"I haven't smelled Dragonborn before," she said, a slight snarl in her tone.

"I've heard it's a pretty recognizable smell," Hiccup shrugged. 

She sniffed the air, recognition lighting in her eyes, "You smell like human and magic." 

Hiccup tilted his head, "Really? No one's told me that before. It makes sense, though." 

A beat passed, and she looked him up and down, "Prove it." 

He raised his eyebrows, "Prove it?" 

"Yes," she said. "You could have just rolled around in a human village and happen to possess an excess amount of magic." 

Hiccup laughed, studying her a moment, "Okay, that's fair." 

Blue light filled the cave, and Hiccup sighed as the familiar magic washed over him. He had made a couple modifications to his clothing over the past few days, namely adding more leather to the shoulder pads to make a chest plate that covered the top half of his chest, with lots of buckles and golden framed Moon Sweeper scales on them. Having planned for these modifications, Hiccup had brought home some of his mother's gold with him, just in case. 

The female Blaze Builder sucked in a small breath when he shifted fully, taking in his human features that contrasted strongly to the black wings and tail attached to his back. 

"You're-" she said, looking at him with a mix of fear and respect. 

"A Dragonborn," he finished for her, clasping his hands behind his back. "Trust me, it was just as shocking for me." 

"Wait, I've never heard that story," Sharpshot said excitedly. "What was it like turning into a dragon all of a sudden?" 

Toothless smirked, "Oh, it was quite the experience." 

Hiccup smiled, "I'd be happy to tell the story."  He looked at the other Leader, "Would you like to join us?" 

She looked at him with interest, and glanced at Hookfang. He nodded at her with excitement, an emotion Hiccup didn't think he'd ever seen on his friends' face. 

"I think that sounds lovely," she said graciously, her harsh mask falling away to reveal a friendly Blaze Builder. "But I didn't happen to catch your birth name." 

"My birth name is Hiccup," he replied easily. "What's your birth name?" 

"Gem," she said with a smile, "my birth name is Gem."