Chapter Text
Toothless yawned and turned his head to check on his brothers. Sharpshot was sleeping on the table: Fishlegs had brought a small pile of soft moss for him to rest on. Hiccup was safely sitting against Toothless' side, wordlessly drawing the smaller dragon in a sketchbook. None of them was hungry, all of them were warm. Toothless glanced at Hiccup's bandaged stump. Well, at least most things were well, and Hiccup didn't feel quite as hot as he had before. It had been a long time since Toothless could just lay down with his family around him without worrying about threats that might take his family from him again. At least he didn't worry about it as much right there in that moment, as long as they were together.
Toothless' ears perked up as he heard footsteps in the stairs. Hiccup looked up from his drawing and turned towards Toothless' head with his hand on a black-scaled leg.
'I think it's that time bud. Someone should come soon.' Hiccup started pushing himself up. 'Let me see how your gear...'Hiccup paused when a strong leg with deadly claws pressed against his chest with gentleness that seemed impossible to it.
'Fishlegs will put it on. You rest,' Toothless told him. 'Until Ivar says you can go out, you rest.'
Hiccup relented and only turned around to lay on his mattress, elevated by a few pillows. Toothless stood up and pulled the blanket on Hiccup with his gums.
'I'm not too sick to do that bud,' Hiccup said. Toothless' only response was a lick on his face. Fishlegs came in sometime during that.
"Am I disturbing something?" Fishlegs asked.
"No," Hiccup answered, wiping saliva from his face. "Toothless heard you coming a moment ago. Time for his daily wing stretching eh..."
"And your lunch," Fishlegs added. He placed a plate with steaming stew next to Hiccup. "Who's coming today?"
Hiccup's eyes turned upwards as his thoughts reached inland.
"Hookfang is already flying this way."
"Oh, people are going to love that."
'That means they aren't going to cause trouble,' Toothless said, waiting for Fishlegs to put on his tailfin and flight gear. After a couple of repeated flights since Hiccup's rescue Fishlegs had started getting the hang of it, though he still had to cover the saddle with a pelt. Considering how violent Vikings could be many of them had a strange aversion to uncleanable bloodstains, even when it was the blood of enemies. When everything was in its place Toothless followed Fishlegs out of the room. He glanced back one more time to make sure Hiccup was okay before squeezing through the door. Hookfang had already landed in front of the forge by the time they got outside.
Toothless spread his wings, pushing them to their full span, blocking the whole front of the forge. His scales started slowly getting wet as snowflakes rained down and melted on them. He didn't mind the dampness, focusing on stretching everything he could. Night Furies weren't meant to lay around or survive inside a single room. If he could he would have until Hiccup was recovered, but Hiccup didn't allow that. Yet, even now Hiccup was already petting Sharpshot and listening to his surroundings more carefully in Toothless' absence. Toothless looked at Hookfang.
'I'm counting on you.'
'From you that is a lot. No harm shall come to little Viking while I live,' Hookfang answered. He looked around the small opening in front of the forge. Only a few people remained since the dragons arrived and they stayed at safe distance away. The old Viking might not like that if they stayed there too long. Toothless leaned forward to bring the saddle closer to the ground for Fishlegs.
He heard a high-pitched giggling approaching just before a little human hatchling ran out from a side alley. He shrieked seeing the dragons but couldn't stop his momentum. His little feet slipped on the freshly icy ground and he fell on his backside, coming to a stop right under Toothless' head. The hatchling was even smaller than Hiccup, less than half his size. He stared up at Toothless quietly, water forming in his eyes.
"Brant!?" Toothless looked up to see a Viking woman staring at him and the little hatchling. They shared several scents, testifying to some close relationship between them.
"Mom!" The hatchling turned around, trying to crawl away and slipped again, this time falling on his stomach. Small hatchlings were often clumsy among dragons too.
Several people were taking careful steps towards them. Hookfang was following their every movement. Toothless reminded himself that these people had to like them, for Hiccup's wellbeing if nothing else.
"Don't worry," Fishlegs told the woman. Toothless took his own action and retracted his teeth. He grabbed back of the hatchling's tunic with his gums. The woman breathed with a hiss and the hatchling started struggling as Toothless lifted him up. He stepped closer to the woman who visibly tensed as he approached until he was holding the hatchling right in front of her.
She needed a few seconds to realize she could take her hatchling. She lifted him from Toothless' hold and pressed the hatchling against her chest. She looked at Toothless with widened eyes. Toothless opened his mouth mimicking a human's smile with his toothless gums. The woman actually leaned forward to see. Toothless revealed his teeth again startling the woman and laughed in his draconic way.
"What in Odin's..."
"Is everything okay here?" Ivar asked. Shortclaw landed next to them, carrying him. She had changed a lot in just a few weeks. Seeing how she was starting to care about Ivar, Toothless understood the change well. Before meeting Hiccup both of the Nightmares would have stood ready to fight whenever Toothless came close, and for a good reason.
Hiccup mentally slapped Toothless for that thought.
"I... I think so," the woman told Ivar. Her eyes moved back and forth, not sure which dragon to keep an eye on. "My son... the the Night Fury... I heard how it..."
"You don't need to worry about him," Ivar said. He got off Shortclaw's neck and walked closer to Toothless. "I can tell you from experience that he can be the most dangerous dragon you've ever even heard about, but only if you try to hurt Hiccup or someone else, he cares about."
Shortclaw followed Ivar and placed her head between him and Toothless.
"They can be quite protective," Fishlegs added, waving his arm at Shortclaw. "And they understand protecting children."
The mother looked down at her hatchling in her arms who wasn't crying anymore. Toothless head-butted Fishlegs. They had already been delayed enough. Thankfully Fishlegs got the message and climbed on the saddle.
"Sorry, we should go now," Fishlegs said. Ivar too nodded to the woman with the hatchling. Toothless kneeled down and waited while Fishlegs checked his cheat sheet and adjusted the fin properly. Only then did Toothless leap and take flight. Airflow under his wings felt good after being inside the whole day. Even if they couldn't go far. Shortlcaw flew next to them with Ivar. She was hungry too, but Toothless noticed the fish first.
They spent a few moments fishing. The rest of the flock showed up to join the lunch, though most of them fished further away. Meatlug especially came close to Toothless, who flew under her near enough for Fishlegs to reach up and touch the Grocnkle.
'How is Hiccup?' Meatlug asked.
'The wound is starting to stay clean, but I still have to lick it and his body is warmer than it should be.'
'And the leg?'
'Hiccup fixed my tail. Once he gets healthier, one leg won't hold him back,' Toothless answered, trying to cover his darker feelings of his failure. 'Can we talk about something else?' Hiccup knew if Toothless thought about it, and he was already tense with Toothless away; Toothless didn't want to make his Viking brother more anxious than he already was by lingering on dark thoughts. Toothless focused on looking at their flock flying and fishing together and resisted the bloodlust that rose while hunting, even while fishing.
Toothless didn't waste much more time after getting his fill and flew back towards the village. Meatlug followed but couldn't quite keep up. Hookfang loyally remained on guard next to the forge as Toothless returned. He landed on the opening in front of the forge; not many people were around to get in the way. Fishlegs got off the saddle and Toothless pushed inside ahead of him. The old blacksmith had gone to Hiccup's room while Toothless was away. Hiccup seemed to trust him, but neither of them were totally comfortable with people when separated. Dragons Hiccup at least could stop if they proved untrustworthy.
Toothless squeezed through the door to their room. The old blacksmith standing over Hiccup tensed and took a step away from him... 'Good,' Toothless thought. Toothless laid down next to Hiccup, who abandoned the pillows that previously held him a bit elevated, leaning instead against Toothless' front leg. He raised his notebook to show Toothless his newest drawing. He was already planning his new foot and this one wasn't just a stick like the blacksmith on Berk used. Toothless looked at the pedal still attached on his side.
'I'll adjust everything, so we can fly,' Hiccup told him. Toothless looked at the picture again.
"I have to take back what I said about the leg," the old blacksmith said and pointed at Toothless' tail. "If you can keep that working reliably you should have no problems. You still have to wait until Chief's son says your wounds are well enough. I can look into making this by then."
"No," Hiccup answered and lowered his eyes back on the drawing. "I think I have to do it myself. Making things is the one thing I'm good at." Toothless grunted and butted Hiccup with his head. Hiccup's lips twitched up slightly and he put his hand on Toothless' head. "Okay, maybe one of a couple of things. Is something wrong?" Hiccup asked the old blacksmith, who was looking at him strangely.
"It is just that you appear completely different from a few moments ago, more relaxed I think. Do you notice it yourself?"
Hiccup averted his gaze from the man.
"I know. It's okay." Hiccup leaned more against Toothless' side. "Don't take it the wrong way. I was just... being careful. It's fine now."
The old man rubbed his chin, looking at Hiccup.
"I see." He looked to the door. Ivar came in with a female hatchling of similar age to Hiccup that sometimes helped to treat Hiccup. Her hair was as black as Toothless' scales and slid down her shoulder in a long braid. When it swung in front of Toothless, he felt an urge to catch it, or at least slap it, but Hiccup had told him to keep off. Then he had said something about a scaly cat.
The girl put down a can of water and opened a small package of smelly plants they constantly fed Hiccup or put on his wounds as if Toothless couldn't keep them clean by himself. If Hiccup thought it helped though, Toothless could wait his turn 'till the evening. It would take a lot of saliva to restore Hiccup's scent after the smelly things. Toothless kept an eye on them as they started unwrapping Hiccup's leg. The girl glanced at Toothless several times while they were at it. It had taken Ivar some convincing before she would work next to Toothless. When she looked at Toothless again, he tilted his head and cooed calmly, genuinely thankful for her help. The girl's lips twitched up a bit until Ivar interrupted.
"Hey Heather, can you hold this up?"