▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅

❛ sᴛᴏʀᴍʙᴏʀɴ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏ ʜᴏᴘᴇ ғʟᴜɴɢ
ʜɪɢʜ ꒱


❝ THAT WAS SOME
PRETTY NEAT FLYING
YOU DID BACK THERE ❞

▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅

Dany's suggestion stayed with Hiccup for the rest of the day. His determination to fix his mistake was only further cemented by Gobber's words later that evening, "if it can't fly, it can't get away. A downed dragon is a dead dragon."

He then spent the night making the prosthetic wing for the Night Fury, whom he was slowly dubbing 'Toothless' whenever he thought about the dragon.

🏹🏹🏹

The following day, he went down to the cove early, before even Dany was there. It felt oddly empty without the presence of the silvery-haired girl, but his mission was enough to keep him from getting distracted. Besides, it was almost better that she wasn't there so he couldn't completely make a fool out of himself on his first attempt at flying alone.

"Hey, Toothless," he greeted the dragon in a sing-song voice. "I brought breakfast. I hope. . ." He dropped the giant basket of fish from his shoulders and pushed it open with his foot. "I hope you're hungry. Okay, that's disgusting."

Hiccup backed away from the food he'd brought as the Night Fury circled it excitedly. "We've got some salmon, some nice Icelandic cod. . . and a whole smoked eel."

The dragon growled at the last item on the list, causing the boy to tense. Cautiously, he picked it up , which made Toothless hiss in response. He rushed to reassure him, "no, no, no, no, no! No, it's okay." He tossed the eel aside and wiped his hands on his vest. "Yeah, I don't really like eel much, either."

As Toothless began to eat his meal, Hiccup moved slowly around the dragon towards his tail, muttering, "that's it. That's it. Just stick with the good stuff. And don't you mind me. I'll just be back here, minding my own business."

He knelt on the dewy grass, some of the moisture soaking into the knees of his pants. He ignored the uncomfortable sensation as best he could and placed his hand-made tail against the dragon's. Almost as if he knew what the brunet was doing, Toothless moved his tail a few inches away. Hiccup adjusted the position again, only for the Night Fury to shift away again. Grunting with annoyance, he wrestled with the tail to pin it down. "It's okay. It's okay."

Focused on his task of securing the buckles, Hiccup remained oblivious to the fact that Toothless had finished his breakfast and was now aware of the prosthetic that was being attached to his tail. A curious growl emitted from his throat and his wings began to spread outwards as he readied himself to take flight.

Finished with the buckles, the boy spread out the attachment to compare it to the original tail, murmuring to himself, "that's not too bad. It works. . ."

Without warning, Toothless leapt into the air, his wings flapping furiously as he tried to gain height. The brunet let out a startled yell as the ground sped away from him, his stomach turning over by his sudden airborne-ness. As the Night Fury crested to the apex of his flight, he struggled to release the tail and keep them from crashing. Seconds before they hit the grass, he yanked it open and sent them soaring upwards.

"Oh, my! It's working!" came his elated yell, feeling the same rush of adrenaline he'd felt the day before when he'd flown with Dany.

When he turned the tail, the Night Fury turned with him. Together, they skimmed over the still water of the lake, so close that Hiccup could see his reflection soaring past beneath him. The thrill of the ride didn't last as long as he would have liked it to as, once Toothless had realized that he could fly, he whipped his tail to send the boy crashing into the water— only for the dragon follow him not long after.

🏹🏹🏹

Dany was at the cove when he returned later that afternoon with a newly made saddle in his hands. While he'd worked on it, he'd thought about her words regarding a dragon's freedom, but he didn't think that there was any other way to get Toothless back in the air— and he certainly wasn't skilled enough to ride a dragon alone.

She looked up from her carving at his arrival, her traditional bare feet and flower crown making her look like she belonged there, as if she were some sort of nature sprite. "I've been waiting for you for ages," she complained. "I wanted to ask you what that was." She pointed to the prosthetic which, to his relief, was still on Toothless' tail (he definitely did not want to deal with that much fish again.)

He couldn't help the smile that curled on his lips at her greeting, pleased that someone actually looked forward to seeing him. "It's my invention— a new tail for Toothless."

"Toothless?" she repeated, and then realization dawned on her features. Her eyes widened and she beamed at him happily. "So he will be your dragon!" The blonde clapped her hands together, her excitement causing her to rise to her feet. "Oh! We can go flying together!"

Her enthusiasm was infectious and Hiccup found himself looking forward to her suggestion, the thought of flying in circles around the stately Drogon being very appealing. "I hope so," he told her honestly. "I have to fix the kinks in the tail first."

"Can I do anything to help?" she asked.

He thought for a moment, wanting to give her a task that would actually be helpful. Although he'd only known her for a few days, he already realized that he didn't want to make her frown. "Well. . . could you try and keep Toothless calm? He wasn't thrilled about me messing with his tail this morning."

🏹🏹🏹

The next few days flew by— literally— as he tried several variations on his original prototype. Each day after training, Dany was at the cove, eagerly waiting for him to try and improve Toothless' flight. As he learned more about dragons and their habits, he used the techniques in his dragon-training sessions to get out of them faster. While he told himself that he did this to avoid hurting the dragons now that he thought about them differently— and that he was excited to make progress on his prosthetic— the other reason was that his thoughts were slowly being taken up by another blonde (one who wasn't Astrid.)

The downside to his improving dragon skills was his growing popularity— a statement he'd never thought would be true. It got harder and harder to slip away from the other teens undetected as they pestered him with questions about his newfound talent.

Unfortunately, Astrid had caught him on one of his many trips down to the cove with his saddle in hand. She'd frozen with her axe raised above her head, her arm held out and ready to throw it at him— he couldn't help but think that this was very much like how he'd first met Dany. They'd both stared at each other for a moment before he rushed onwards, ducking under the foliage so she couldn't track him.

🏹🏹🏹

The pinnacle of his efforts came the day the Vikings who'd gone to find the dragons' nest were due to return. As he climbed onto Toothless' back, Dany sat atop Drogon as she waited for them to take off. "Are you sure you don't want to ride together? You said that Drogon's presence last time agitated Toothless."

She giggled at his suggestion, her violet eyes bright with anticipation. "No thanks— I don't have a death wish. Besides, now that he can fly, I think Drogon being here will be fine. You'll need someone to catch you if this doesn't go well, after all."

Hiccup rolled his eyes at that. "Yeah, yeah. You were there for the prototypes! Don't you have any faith in my craftsmanship?"

"Oh, sure," she agreed with a grin. "But I have absolutely none in your flying abilities!"

Her teasing laughter lingered after Drogon lifted them into the air, higher and higher until all he could see was the dragon's underside. Huffing, he patted the Night Fury's side. "We'll show her, bud. Let's take this nice and slow."

Toothless followed Drogon into the air, the larger dragon casting a shadow as he flew above them. They rose until they were flying next to him so Hiccup could see Dany, who was clearly much more at ease than he was, riding her dragon with bare feet and no saddle.

Determined to prove the blonde wrong, he glanced down at the chart he'd made the previous day. "Here we go. Here we go. Position. . . three. . . no, four." He shifted his foot to adjust the tail fin.

In perfect synchronization, the two dragons shadowed each other as they turned to the side, gliding past a large, fluffy-white cloud. Drogon sailed underneath the newer pair, ready to catch them if one of them faltered.

As they angled downward, Hiccup nervously leaned forward, standing up in the stirrups of his saddle as they made their way towards the sea-stacks. "Come on, buddy! Come on, buddy!"

"You can do it!" the girl's voice echoed against the rocks as Drogon careened around the pillars rather than between them.

Her encouragement only made his resolve harden and they sailed smoothly between the gap. "Yes, it worked!"

His confidence was short-lived as they accidentally crashed into another pillar, the blonde's shouted warning coming a second too late. "Sorry!" Still coming to terms with the positioning, they clipped off another sea-stack, causing him to grimace guiltily. "That's my fault!"

Toothless smacked him reproachfully in response. "Yeah, yeah, I'm on it. Position four. . . uh, three."

They launched themselves upwards, away from the obstacles below. Just as he was beginning to really enjoy the freedom of flying on his own, things began to go wrong. The wind whipped the piece of paper he had pinned to his saddle out of place, leaving him helpless as he tried to catch it. "Cheat sheet! Stop!"

"What's going on down there?" came Dany's concerned shout as she was unable to see them.

"N-nothing!" Hiccup replied quickly, his voice catching as they froze in mid-arc. His safety hook came undone and, for one terrifying second, they hung in the air before gravity took hold of them, sending the pair plummeting towards the sea.

The blonde must have heard his panicked shouts as Drogon suddenly fell into a neat dive, his wings tucked to his sides. The large dragon sank like a stone through the sky, only opening his wings to catch himself when he and his rider were beneath them. That helped a little as he was reassured that maybe he wouldn't die a horrible death, but he refused to give up so easily. Calling out haphazard instructions to Toothless to try and get back in control, he struggled to retake his place in the saddle.

By some miracle— after being hit in the face by his dragon's tail— Hiccup managed to right himself, only feet from crashing into Drogon's tail. His safety net veered to the right at the sight of the sea-stacks that emerged up ahead, leaving the inexperienced dragon and rider alone. After only a moment's hesitation, Hiccup tossed his cheat sheet to the wind, determined to rely only on his instincts to get through the oncoming obstacles.

🏹🏹🏹

When they landed on a rocky island later that evening, he didn't even mind Dany's laughter as she giggled at his burned appearance, thanks to Toothless' joyful plasma blast. Drogon took off once his rider had dismounted to catch fish for himself, seeing as he would need much more than the Night Fury. Using his dragon as a back rest, he sat down next to the blonde as a fire crackled in front of them. As he handed her a fish to roast on a stick, she sighed, and he was surprised by the jealousy in her voice as she said, "that was some pretty neat flying you did back there. It must have been incredible."

"Yeah, it was," he answered, smiling at the memory. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat— even the part where I almost died."

The girl rolled her eyes. "You wouldn't have died— I would've caught you. I'm so glad that Toothless can fly again, though. I was afraid his injury might keep him grounded forever."

Hiccup felt the familiar guilt well up inside of him again; he had yet to tell Dany that he was the reason for the dragon's handicap. He glanced over at her as the brilliant rays of the sunset turned her silvery-blonde hair gold, her expression full of contentment as she turned her stick over the fire. His shoulders slumped, knowing he'd have to tell her the truth. "Look, Dany. . . I didn't want to tell you this before since you were so protective of Toothless, but. . . I'm the reason he's like this now."

She stilled and a wounded expression took over her features— one that made his heart twist in his chest at the sight. "What?" she asked, her voice low.

The brunet focused his gaze back on the fire, unable to look at her face for long. "It was before I knew anything about dragons. I. . . I wanted to prove myself as a Viking, since everyone in the village thought I was useless. I made a contraption that would shoot a bola for me and. . . I actually hit my target— not that I see dragons as targets now, of course. When I found Toothless in the woods, I was going to kill him so my father wouldn't be so disappointed in me, but when I went to do it. . . I saw myself in him. He was just as scared as I was and. . . I couldn't hurt him. After that I knew I didn't want to kill dragons, but my dad wouldn't listen and signed me up for dragon training anyway. I'm. . . I'm sorry."

He half expected her to call Drogon and leave him on the island, but she didn't. Although her gaze remained on her roasting fish, she spoke slowly, "you didn't know any better back then. You wouldn't do that now, so that's what matters. Besides, Toothless is the one you needed to apologize to, and it looks like he's forgiven you."

"So we're okay then?" he asked hopefully.

Dany finally glanced over at him with a small smile, meeting his eyes briefly before she looked out at the sea. "Yeah, of course. And by the way, I don't think you're useless."

He let out a breath of relief even as warmth rushed to his face. Choosing to take the lighter route, he pretended not to hear her last words and said, "you know, one of the reasons why I didn't want to tell you that was because I was afraid you'd almost kill me again."

As usual, his joking tone went over her head and it was the blonde's turn to apologize. "I'm sorry. All I knew about Vikings from Berk was what my parents had told me, so I thought Toothless was in danger." She grinned at him sheepishly. "I guess we both learned new things about dragons and Vikings."

Hiccup grinned at her in return and nudged her teasingly. "Is there anything else that I can learn about you?"

Dany seemed to seriously think on his question before she said quietly (as if she were afraid that he'd laugh at her), "I've always wanted to fly."

He gave her a confused look. "You. . . have a dragon?"

Her face turned a pretty shade of pink as she avoided his eyes. "Well, yes, but I mean unsupported flight. You know, like how a dragon flies, but as me. I know it's kind of silly and impossible, but my mother claims I'm part dragon so I guess that explains the urge. It's. . . it's something I've wanted to do for as long as I can remember."

She shrugged as if to say her words didn't mean much to her, but Hiccup knew it was exactly the opposite. He didn't say anything for a moment as he thought about how well he'd gotten to know her in the past month. He thought about how easy it was to make her laugh, the way his chest fluttered her gaze met his— especially when, most of the time, she looked anywhere but his face— how she painstakingly worked to carve Toothless from wood, no matter how many times she had to try. He thought about how he always glanced over at her when he made a sarcastic comment, waiting for her reaction— which was never what he expected since most of his jokes escaped her.

He liked the fact that someone actually enjoyed being in his presence instead of ignoring him or wishing he didn't exist, much like Astrid had the entire time he'd known her. And, speaking of Astrid, she no longer took up his thoughts in the way she once had; instead, he began to picture how a different girl with light blonde hair would look walking around Berk and what she would think of the Vikings that lived in the village. Finally, he thought of the way she smiled, how her joy seemed to light up her entire face and when he was the cause of it. . . well, each time it happened made him feel like a small sun had settled in his chest and made its home there.

It was in that breath of silence between her admission and his response that he made a promise to himself: he would make sure she got her greatest wish. He didn't quite know how yet, but he'd invent it if he had to— he'd invent it for her. Just like her countless carvings of the Night Fury, all of the work he'd have to put into it would be worth it just so he could be the reason she smiled so brilliantly.

"I don't think that's silly at all," he told her honestly, the familiar warmth blooming in his chest at due to her resulting smile.

She nudged him back, oblivious to his recent revelation. "Is there anything that you want to tell me?"

Since she'd trusted him with such a long-held wish, he was willing to admit one of his own. Although he hardly thought about it anymore considering there was nothing he could do, it was still there in the back of his mind. It always came to the forefront on the nights he spent alone when his dad was away on Viking business and the darkness of their hut pressed in around him. Any of the Viking teens would call him soft and make fun of him, but Dany wasn't like that, so he said hesitantly, "I. . . I wish I my mom was still alive, so we could be a whole family again."

The blonde didn't say anything for a second before she cringed awkwardly. "That makes my wish of flying look really shallow. I'm sorry about your mom."

Hiccup shook his head at her words. "I don't think it's shallow at all." He shrugged. "I lost my mom a long time ago, so I barely remember anything about her. I do remember that when I was little, I asked my dad if I would get another one. When he said no, I just sort of. . . moved on."

Dany still didn't look entirely appeased by his reassurance, so he added, "hey, I know it's not exactly unsupported flight, but if you want to fly Toothless back to the cove, you can."

Distracting her with the promise of dragons seemed to work as her expression brightened hopefully. "Really? Are you sure?"

Truthfully, he wasn't, since Drogon still made him a bit uncomfortable, but as it was with most things regarding the blonde, it would be worth it. After all, she had expressed her desire to fly the Night Fury amongst the sea-stacks and now she could. So, he nodded without giving away his trepidation. "Yeah, of course."

"Oh my Gods, thank you!" she squealed excitedly and, without warning, she threw arms around him.

Hiccup froze at the unexpected contact, his eyes going wide as he stared unseeingly out at the horizon. The hug was over in a second, but it was long enough for his face to heat up and his thoughts to become a blur, all except for: oh my Gods, she hugged me!

A/n: new headcanon unlocked: Hiccup created the flight suit (HTTYD 2) for Dany. I just love taking little details and expanding on them to fit the story. :)

(This WILL be revisited in RTTE. 😉)