27. The Aftermath

It was deathly silent, the world had been muted in the aftermath of the great battle and all the color seemed to vanish from the island. Even the flows of lava seemed to have stopped. All that was left was a stony beach covered in smoke that blurred everything like the dense fog around the island. A disturbing rain of black ashes fell upon the land like a gloomy snow, dying everything pitch black, like the body of the Night Fury, who laid down in pain and exhaustion. His muscles were stained and sore, being pushed to the point of snapping apart, while his bones felt like brittle glass, he was sure, in his now-barely functioning consciousness, that some had broken from the fall. He turned around, aching felt in every part of his body, struggling to open his eyes.

He noticed also, his back felt surprisingly light, and it seemed wrong to him somehow, like there was something supposed to be there. Toothless pulled in his splayed out wings to his body and squinted near the end of his tail, struggling to regain clarity and focus in his vision. His senses were returning to him and he felt that he was right – his back was meant to be heavier, but not by much. There was a familiar weight there, but now it was gone, and they only weight he felt now was that in his legs and wings, which felt like heavy lead or they had boulders the size of Gronkles tied to them.

His sight finally came back to him and he saw the grievous state of the tail fin that had landed right near him, disconnected from his tail. The leather was gone completely, the belt was ruined, and the metal rods were burnt and bent sporadically. And it all hit him at once.

'Hiccup...'

Toothless pushed the tiredness away and lifted his head up, looking around for any sign of his Hiccup, fearing that Hiccup might not have survived or that he had not made it in time. His memory slowly came back while doing so: after the explosion had passed, they had crashed to the ground, smashing against rocks and rolling and skidding like a stone skipped across the water until they had finally stopped in the shore. Toothless was sure that he had had Hiccup in his protective embrace, wrapped up in his wings and pressed hard and close against his chest, determined not to let a single scratch on him. But he also remembered falling into the explosion, and it escaped him still just how he had managed to catch him. He shuffled and shifted his beaten body all around, wondering perhaps if it was just a trick and he had not caught Hiccup after all.

It was then that he spotted his boy, lying a few feet away unconscious, the ash gathering on his splayed out form. His skin was deathly pale and his riding harness and clothes were burned and tattered. Toothless picked himself up off the ground, or at least tried to before collapsing down again, no ounce of strength left within him. His muscles screamed in pain and agony with every movement, the torture enough to snap any man or dragon's mind, but Toothless pushed on, dragging his limp hind legs, wings, and tail and crawling with his claws grasping at the shifting pebbles. All he could think about was the little dragon rider before him, his fatigued thoughts echoing his name, his limitless drive to protect his rider powering his legs through sheer will alone.

'Hiccup... Hiccup.... Hiccup...'

He could have fallen apart at any time, every claw lift could have been his last before that leg shattered, but it mattered nothing to him. Too worn to even cry out, he had still managed to make it; all he could do was take his Hiccup into his claws and wrap his wings around him in the warmest embrace any living creature could give another. In that black cocoon that now formed around Hiccup's motionless body, he was safe, and to Toothless, that was all that was necessary. With a whimper and a small lick on his boy's cheek, Toothless had managed to stir Hiccup, who slowly opened his eyes to find the concerned, near tearful gaze of his dragon focused entirely on him.

"T-Toothless..." Hiccup muttered. The dragon crooned happily over Hiccup's well-being, but it was so weak it almost sounded like a simple purr or another whimper. Looking closely at his boy, Toothless could see he was even worse off than expected. Sure he was pale usually compared to other Vikings, but his grievous condition combined with the ashes of the Queen falling on him made his skin as white as snow itself. Toothless was terrified: humans should not be that color – it was a clear sign that his boy was on death's door.

"Toothless... I can't feel my leg, bud..."

Hiccup had a numb feeling where his left leg was supposed to be, and looking down, Toothless could see why, although the sight made him want to vomit. The leg was nearly cremated, and bloodied, with some bone actually sticking out; gazing at the punctured marks around the leg, Toothless's memory came flooding back once again. When Hiccup was falling into the fiery end of the Queen, Toothless reached out to grab him, not with his stubby legs, but with his mouth since it was the closest thing to his leg. The only way to maintain a secure grip was to pull his teeth out and bite down hard; he was able to pull him in, but the strength of his jaws had devastated the bones and muscle tissue. Fat lot of good it did anyway, since Toothless still managed to lose him when they crash landed.

Toothless whimpered sadly to Hiccup: the guilt was overwhelming in the young dragon's heart. When he determined that Hiccup and his machine were the reason he had lost his tail fin, he had wished in spiteful rage that something just as terrible would happen to the miserable skin-sack to cripple him just as badly, that he would pay for robbing him of his flight, pulling him from the sky forever. But that miserable skin-sack returned what he had stolen, feeling guilty for his actions to begin with, and soon became the best friend Toothless could ever ask for, and because of all that... now, Toothless wished with all his heart and soul that he could take it back.

'I'm so sorry... I-I didn't mean it. But it... it was the only way I could save you.' He whimpered.

Hiccup cracked a weak smile and stroked the Night Fury's head; it was weird – perhaps it was the fact that he might be delusional from being on the verge of death, but he could swear he heard Toothless in his head. More than just a simple imagining, but like an actual voice inside his head formed from words imprinted in his mind. As if they were speaking aloud like two people, but with the words being only a convenience rather than a requirement.

"I-It's okay, bud." Hiccup chuckled softly. "You did what you had to do. Thank you. Honestly though..." Hiccup could not see his leg inside the darkness further down in Toothless's wings, but he could just feel how bad of shape his leg was in. "I guess I deserve this..."

Toothless's eyes widened and barked as hard as he could to protest, but with his strained voice it only came out as a sad, raspy, whimper. How could he think he deserved this fate? Sure he made mistakes but he more than made up for them; if Toothless didn't see him as a bad person, then surely no other dragon could, so why?

"I took a piece of you..." Toothless reared his head back. "It's only fair you take a piece of me."

Of course it would be that. 'Hiccup, no... I-I was stupid and mad... I shouldn't have wished something like that on anyone, you least of all.' His freedom, once restored, finally meant something to the dragon. For the first time in his life, he was happy, because now he could share those sights with someone he cared about. Forget that it was a human, it was someone who looked at him without fear, but with wonder like how he looked at the rest of the new world he'd been exposed to. And he in turn wanted to make the world a safer place for dragons like him, so he would never have to face pain or death again. Words truly could never tell how much that meant to him.

"I don't blame you for anything bud. I'm not mad." Hiccup said, earning a sorrowful grimace from the Night Fury – if only he could have been that noble and forgiving. Hiccup soon found himself fighting just to stay awake, his eyelids getting heavier and heavier, lulling him towards the eternal sleep. Toothless nudged his head up, knocking him back awake, if only slightly.

"Bud... I-I don't know... if I'm going to make it," he confessed, stroking Toothless's muzzle.

'Don't say that! You have to hold on! Please... for me!' Toothless whimpered frantically. He couldn't go back to be alone – he'd rather die than face a world without Hiccup in it. He couldn't even imagine such a thing, it was too horrible.

"If... if that happens... I want to make sure I go without regrets. I'm not heading off to Valhalla until I get this off my chest."

Toothless's expression now retained the panic and sorrow of the prospect of losing his boy, but now mixed with a strong dose of confusion. 'W-What do you mean?'

Hiccup's focus was fading quickly, and he knew he had to make the most of this moment – now with his energy fading quickly he realized he had put it off too long. Toothless was his friend and he deserved the truth, no matter how horrible it was, even if their friendship would be ruined because of it. Whatever would come of this, he steeled himself to face it, just as long as he could speak the honest, unhidden truth, he would be all right. What came after would be up to Toothless. Still, Hiccup could not help but let the single tear fall from his eye, and he was in no shape to hold off the rest that would soon follow.

"Toothless... you'd still be my friend, right...?" Hiccup felt he had to ask, even though he felt his dragon's expected outrage was something he had coming for a while. "Even... even if you knew something bad about me? Would you still be my friend no matter how horrible it was...?"

Toothless only looked more worried, outright pained at the question. 'What is with you and saying all these stupid things? The answer should be obvious... Hiccup, stop thinking you deserve all this sadness!'

"You wouldn't be doing this if you knew..." Hiccup whispered while Toothless held him tightly, and hearing that statement just made him squeeze harder, as hard as he could without damaging him. It hurt Toothless so much seeing, while they were still on Berk and Toothless was stuck in that cove, how Hiccup sometimes came so defeated, so miserable, and it never seemed to bother him as much as it should. People treated him so poorly because he didn't possess their kind of strength, the only kind that mattered to them, and Hiccup just went along with it. It had gone on for a majority of Hiccup's life, and in some way, that rejection had become a part of him; his heart had become numb by accepting their views on him. He was never really that hurt because he convinced himself that he was worthless – in fact, Toothless wondered if he'd be okay if they decided to execute him for those same reasons, and Hiccup would be okay with it still. Maybe so, and that reality was just sickening to him.

If Toothless could, he'd go back in time and find Hiccup when he was a little boy, so he could rip of the limbs and mutilate every last Viking who'd ever made his boy cry. Any Viking who said even one hurtful word, who touched him the wrong way, who even gave him a reason to think Hiccup wasn't safe or happy. What Toothless wouldn't give to have always been able to protect his boy, and be able to talk to him to tell him it was going to be alright.

Hiccup pulled himself away slightly to look up at Toothless again, and once more the tears started to fall. "Bud, when we left Berk that day, I-I wasn't lying when I said I was tired of being pushed around, of being a... a Hiccup... but, there was... something else... something I didn't tell you..."

Toothless blinked. 'What...?' was all his expression said.

"Playing with you every day in the woods... those were the happiest days of my life," said Hiccup, and the small smile on Toothless' face did no justice to the overwhelming comfort those few words gave. "I-I had a real friend, and playing with you helped me learn so much about dragons, things that no Viking ever bothered to learn since they didn't help in killing them. I took advantage of that knowledge and I had gotten so much better in dragon training; I was pushed to the top of the class in no time... Imagine everyone's surprise to find that Hiccup, Hiccup the Useless, got so good in Dragon Training. They'd thought the world was going crazy..." Toothless growled lightly – oh, how he hated that nickname of Hiccup's that the other humans his age had so kindly given him. Hiccup rolled his eyes and chuckled: 'stupid, overprotective lizard...' But that smile that formed quickly turned to a frown.

"But because I had gotten so good in training, I was selected to take the final exam..." He sucked in a breath, although he quickly coughed it out, calming down thanks to a small lick from Toothless. He recomposed himself: this was it, now or never. "I was... I... I had to face the Monstrous Nightmare... and kill it..."

Time had stopped completely for the two, everything had frozen as Hiccup took in the dragon's flabbergasted expression. Aware that dragons were capable of thought and reason, he had no idea what Toothless was thinking now, which seemed normal and odd at the same time since he was just hearing his dragon's thoughts a moment ago. For Hiccup, his heart had stopped beating completely and his blood was as cold as ice. Would Toothless now try to kill him for what would be considered nothing else but a betrayal? Well, if he was, he would have to wait until Hiccup declared his feelings and said everything he needed to.

"They said... they said it was supposed to be an honor. That I could take my place among great warriors and champions of righteousness. For so long, I thought it was what I wanted... but when it came down to a scrawny little boy and the world's most terrifying dragon bound and trapped in the woods... I couldn't. I thought it was fear... that I was weak and unable to kill a dragon, but maybe... maybe it was because I was strong enough not to..."

 'Hiccup...' Toothless was still shocked at this – he had known that Hiccup was training with dragons, but he didn't think his boy was going to end up killing one. Maybe he was a little betrayed somewhere, but his heart was pushing that feeling back to give Hiccup a chance to speak. After all, he had just said he couldn't; Toothless knew he was different, but that was what he liked about Hiccup. And besides, from the boy's words and expression, this really didn't seem to be an easy subject to speak about.

"I couldn't... I couldn't kill that dragon, just like I couldn't kill you." This time, the tears were falling freely without any signs of stopping, and Hiccup didn't feel like letting them. The pain of the dark secret, both keeping it all this time and finally telling it facing the fear of abandonment from Toothless hitting him all at once. His voice sounded so broken, as broken as he and his dragon both were. "I couldn't kill any dragon... I c-couldn't even point a dagger at one, because all I would see... was you. My... my best friend..."

'Hiccup, it's okay...' Toothless thought; even if it was just an inner voice, it nonetheless was starting to sound as broken and cracked as Hiccup's real one.

"I-I couldn't let it come to that between us... I couldn't let it go back to 'Vikings vs. Dragons' with us... You were... you were all I had, bud – I couldn't lose you. I c-couldn't... be alone again..." He was shaking his head ever so slightly, sobbing freely now.

'Hiccup... I would never leave you... You could tear off my wings and legs and I'd still call you my friend. I just want... I wanted to stay with you...' The whimpers and tears that came from the two of them spoke multitudes of volumes of emotions and hidden truths between the two. Hiccup saw that Toothless, because both man and dragon feared him so greatly, was lonely too, desperate for the same kind of acceptance. When he finally had that acceptance, that friendship, in Hiccup, he was desperate to hold onto it; Hiccup was all he had too. They were both outcasts, both alone: how right, how natural was it that they had found what they were looking for in each other? The transcendence from the hatred felt from their comrades and ancestors seemed all the more clear now; in that one moment of enlightened innocence, everything made perfect sense.

"I had to leave... I had to abandon everyone and everything I knew. I wouldn't let them take you away, I'd die before that happened..." Hiccup cried. "I wouldn't stay... knowing what might happen..."

'I wouldn't let you stay... I'd take you away myself if I knew. I'm sorry... I had no idea what you were going through...'

Hiccup squinted his eyes through the tears and looked up at his dragon's sad, dilated eyes. He panted heavily, running out of air quickly and feeling nauseous as a result. He felt his vision slipping, the world around him fading into darkness. But he needed to say a few more words, these more than anything else...

"I love you, Toothless..."

'I love you, too, Hiccup...'

And with that, Hiccup finally passed out, his head limply hitting the ground. Toothless could only cradle him in his legs and wings and bring his head down to touch the crown of his boy's, shutting his own eyes and focused every thought on Hiccup's safety. Deep in his heart, he prayed to every force he could, every God and spirit that feasted in the halls of Valhalla... that those words would not be Hiccup's last.

TO BE CONTINUED.......

Hi.... I know i didn't uploaded another chapter for about a month now. But i had my reason which is i had a big exam happening and i was focusing on it since i need to get in to a better college so i had to stop for a while .. And that's why I am sorry ... 

But from 30th may i will properly start to do my due works on this story and will try to upload chapters  quickly as I can .. Plz pray that i get good marks in this exam TOT