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Post by Hiccup on Sept 21, 2011 15:03:28 GMT -5
(ooc: March 26. Closed to Toothless and Hiccup.)
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III was having a very bad day.
It had started simply enough. Not even five minutes into the day he had been tormented by Snotlout, told to get out of the way by a handful of adults, and thoroughly humiliated by taking a particularly nasty spill down a hill not far from Berk and smack dab into a mud puddle that hadn't quite cleared up from the rain that had hammered Berk only three days prior. After cleaning himself up, Hiccup had decided to go off on his own again. His intentions were simple; he planned on heading to Raven Point to try and find some rabbits or other such food to bring back so that he could maintain some semblance of dignity and at least make an attempt at proving he wasn't useless. That had gone surprisingly well. Hiccup was feeling good about himself, having caught a total of five small rabbits, and he was beginning to think his day was looking up. Nothing else could possibly go wrong!
...And then the Gronckle appeared.
Hiccup had unintentionally happened upon a Gronckle's home and, on top of that, the Gronckle was not sleeping. In fact, it was wide awake. It was also hungry. Hiccup's scrawny appearance, plus the rabbits he had with him, must have awoken the pudgy dragon's eat first and think later attitude, as the dragon had lifted off and flown straight toward Hiccup. This left the Viking with only one option, and that was dropping the rabbits before running like hell. The rabbits barely even deterred the Gronckle. It ate them up quickly and continued chasing Hiccup. So, there the redhead was running as fast as his twiggy legs could carry him through the harsh terrain of Raven Point and away from a hungry, angry dragon.
Hiccup really hadn't been paying much attention to how many shots the Gronckle had taken in an attempt to slow him down. Hiccup's only thought had been to run, and run he did. Gronckles only possessed enough firepower for six shots, that much Hiccup knew, so it would only be a matter of time before the ugly dragon ran out of ammo. Once it did, though, it might rely on more full frontal attacks. That had Hiccup worried.
He felt the hot whoosh of a fireball going right past him. This dragon had terrible aim, that was for certain! A thought occurred to Hiccup after a few moments, though. The dragon wasn't firing again. Wait... I think that was six! Ha! It's out of ammo! It's out of-
WHOOSH!
The fireball hit Hiccup head on, smack dab in the middle of his back, and sent the scrawny teenager flying over a particularly rough looking hill. Hiccup did hit the side of the hill, crying out in pain as he did, but it wasn't long before he ended up rolling down the rough, stone-speckled hill and collided with a particularly rough looking pine tree. "...OW." and with that undignified whimper of pain, Hiccup slid down the trunk of the tree and landed right on his burnt back. He seethed in pain and shut his eyes tightly, almost hoping that if he appeared dead then the Gronckle would go away. After several moments, Hiccup came to realize that this was not the truth at all. Upon opening his eyes, Hiccup saw that the Gronckle was coming right at him and staring at him with intent, hungry eyes. There was only one thing Hiccup could think of to do.
"HELP!"
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Post by Toothless on Sept 23, 2011 19:30:02 GMT -5
Majestic, black form full of scales and bat-like wings was a sight for sore eyes. And for those who didn't intend on killing him, so thus far that was probably a handful who felt that way. The dragon had decided to stay on the ground for now, briefly pondering how his life was spared by the small, twiggy viking. Night Fury had been on grass, so it was rather unlikely prints would show to his location. Ear-like appendages than flickered at the sound of something, or much rather someone.
Him! The one who spared his life. The dragon had decided to assume that his savior was male, at least. The voice was familiar at the very least. His pale green eyes wandered a bit to find him, possibly to find tracks and clues to find Hiccup. The Night Fury, finding nothing but his nose and ear-like appendages to help him, took to the skies. Pale green eyes scanned the area as he moved in the air, not too long before he found his savior in a horrible position.
Gronckle attack. Instantly, the Night Fury felt a need to spare the viking's life, much like he spared his own. Gratitiude and repaying were in order. The black dragon had to be fast, much like he usually was. His big, happy pupils died into slits as he nearly crashed into the ground, pearly white teeth showing as the dragon stopped in the path of the not so magnificant dragon, snarling and ready to either fight or take a blow from the beast.
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Post by Hiccup on Sept 23, 2011 19:56:17 GMT -5
Hiccup shut his eyes tightly, expecting to feel the butt-ugly dragon swoop down on him to finish him off at any moment, and held his breath as he awaited what would obviously be his end. He'd been an idiot. He shouldn't have wandered off from the village again. No one was around to hear him scream for mercy from the Gronckle.
...At least, that was how it had appeared to be in that bleak moment. Hiccup never felt the teeth of the Gronckle sinking in to him. When this revelation hit him, Hiccup opened his eyes again and found himself staring at the back of the very Night Fury that he had spared not three days prior. Hiccup couldn't believe it. Letting the Night Fury go had proven to be a good move after all. In pain though he was from getting hit by the Gronckle's fire and slamming into the ground after that, followed by colliding with a tree, Hiccup could at least get off of his back and turn himself so that he was pressed against the tree. "Toothless?" Hiccup asked in sheer wonder of what was happening. He hadn't thought about using the nickname he had come up with before, but it seemed like the best thing to use instead of just saying Night Fury. After all, how many other Night Furies were there?
The Gronckle, needless to say, was less than pleased that the Night Fury had come between him and his kill. He let a feral snarl escape him, but didn't advance on the larger dragon. The butt-ugly dragon instead hovered backward and glared daggers at the Night Fury. He was out of ammo, and so fire was clearly not the best course of action to take in fighting the black dragon. No, it was clear that the dragon intended on going into claw-to-claw combat if he even did dare to fight the Night Fury.
Hiccup just watched fearfully, peaking out just a bit from behind the Night Fury with wide emerald eyes fully on the two dragons. Whatever was about to go on, it would clearly end badly for the Gronckle. On the one hand, if he did fight then the Night Fury might overpower him and make him flee. On the other hand, the Gronckle would be cheated out of a meal if he just gave up right then and there. Hiccup could only hold his breath and watch to see what happened next.
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Post by Toothless on Sept 23, 2011 20:17:02 GMT -5
Toothless. The nickname seemed fitting for the black dragon when he vaguely picked up the word toothless from Hiccup's mouth. The Night Fury had momentarily cared about the nickname before resetting his priority to the horrendous dragon, growling and snarling at the lighter colored, not to mention smaller beast. The Gronckle was obviously, probably going to be the underdog loser in a fight, especially if it was all out of ammo.
But the black Night Fury wasn't out of ammo. A huge advantage on his part as the dragon opened his mouth, spitting out a flame to attack the beast. The dragon desperately hoped his aim was good, that he was focused enough to hit the other beast, that he could repay the one who saved his life.
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Post by Hiccup on Sept 23, 2011 20:43:40 GMT -5
The Gronckle, surprisingly, hadn't seen the attack coming. He had been so focused on coming up with some kind of most likely suicidal battle strategy that he hadn't seen the fire coming his way. It hit the uglier dragon with full force, knocking it out of the air and causing him to land with a hard thud not too far from the Night Fury and Hiccup. He appeared stunned for several moments, only vaguely twitching to signify that he was still alive, before hovering into the air and shaking himself off. Had he had any firepower left, he probably would have retaliated. But clearly the Gronckle was in a losing battle. It would be foolish to take on the Night Fury, especially for such a scrawny meal.
"Fine. You can have the toothpick. Too puny for me, anyway."[/i] the Gronckle growled. Of course Hiccup wouldn't be able to understand the language of the dragons. It was just too uncommon for humans to actually be able to communicate with them. He assumed that the Night Fury just wanted Hiccup for himself, never once thinking that the human had spared the bigger dragon's life. Besides, the Gronckle was keen on living thank you very much. He took off with a huff, sending one last nasty glare at Hiccup and the Night Fury before taking off to the skies and heading back the way he had come while chasing Hiccup. And just like that, the Gronckle was gone.
Hiccup let a long sigh of relief escape him. His life had been spared. Now he wouldn't have to wonder if Snotlout would become the next in line to be chief just because he was foolish enough to accidentally wander into a Gronckle's nest with freshly killed rabbits. Breathing slowly returned to normal as Hiccup let everything that had just happened sink in. He had to wonder if this Night Fury, Toothless as he wanted to call him, really was grateful for having his life spared that night. Were dragons ever grateful? It was something to think about.
"You... you saved me." Hiccup breathed. Emerald eyes were still as wide as saucers, and it still felt as though his heart wanted to explode from his chest. He hadn't come that close to death since the encounter with the Nightmare many nights ago. Now it was Hiccup's turn to show gratitude. After all, he couldn't let the Night Fury go unthanked for saving his life. "Thank you... Toothless." Hiccup said at last. He really did think Toothless was a fitting name. He had been looking at the Night Fury from the backside, so he hadn't seen the black dragon's teeth, and so still assumed he was a toothless species. Boy, Hiccup was in for a surprise if he did happen to see those teeth.
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Post by Toothless on Sept 24, 2011 11:37:25 GMT -5
At least it appeared that the dragon was going to make a meal of Hiccup to the Gronckle's eyes, and even if the other didn't leave the black dragon would have said he was going to eat him first as a lie. The Night Fury decided to not retract his teeth as he turned face to face to the viking. Toothless. That name was probably going to stick to the dragon, so he might as well get used to it if he met Hiccup again. His wings folded up at his sides, his pale green eyes were big and bright with curiosity. With the Gronckle gone, it gave the majestic dragon a chance to study the human.
He spared his life once, and after saving his, the dragon doubted that Hiccup would kill him in a heartbeat when the opportunity would arise. His eyes scanned the other intently. Thankfully, the beast still had his ability to fly if something got out of hand with this viking. If something bad happened, he could just fly away. Wait. The dragon looked around, making sure that there weren't any contraptions around. There weren't any. The last contraption caught him in mid-air, and he wasn't about to let that happen.
Seeing that there wasn't anything to harm him, just Hiccup, the dragon stayed put and sat down, cocking his head to the side to look at the human. What viking went out here? More importantly, what viking could get the attention of a Gronckle? The dragon got his head back right side up, looking intently on the viking's next move. Probably that next move was going home.
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Post by Hiccup on Sept 24, 2011 12:00:58 GMT -5
Finally catching sight of Toothless' teeth, Hiccup couldn't help but let a surprised look cross his face. "Huh. So you do have teeth. That's... I guess I should have expected that." Hiccup remarked. But the name stuck, and Hiccup didn't want to try and come up with something else. Besides, Toothless just sounded right. The next thing to pop into Hiccup's head beyond checking to make sure if he was seriously injured or not was to wonder what Toothless was doing near Raven Point in the first place. Surely the Night Fury didn't live out here. The Vikings would have taken notice at some point... right? Or were they so set on killing all dragons that they didn't bother to think about where the supposed enemy could have lived?
Before Hiccup took to asking any questions, he awkwardly glanced behind him to see if any serious damage had been done as a result of the Gronckle's fire hitting him. Unsurprisingly, the fire had done significant damage to his furry vest. It was a wonder the thing was still intact with how burnt it looked. Even a part of his green shirt looked somewhat burned, and Hiccup didn't doubt that his back might have suffered a bit of damage as well. Someone was bound to take notice of that, assuming they didn't notice how roughed up he appeared as a result of falling downhill and colliding with a tree. "Well, that's great. Wonderful. How am I going to cover this up?" Hiccup wondered quietly. Maybe if he just ditched the vest, no one would notice. Maybe. He would just have to see how his luck would hold out.
Hiccup did consider thanking Toothless one last time for saving him from what would have surely been a painful end, but something stopped him. That mainly was the wonder at what he was doing there. Hiccup just had to know what Toothless was doing and why he had been in the area, even if he couldn't understand the dragon's response. "It... it's great that you saved me and all, Toothless, I really am grateful... but what are you doing here? So close to Berk, I mean. Aren't you worried that someone might see you?" Hiccup asked.
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Post by Toothless on Sept 25, 2011 11:03:17 GMT -5
Truthfully, the dragon wasn't so sure why he was so close to Berk. A part of him had wanted to see if he could cause mischief over there probably, see if he could escape death once more. Surely, that wasn't a good idea. Another part of him just wanted to see if his savior had survived in a three day timeframe. Luckily, Toothless heard the cry for help and made sure Hiccup could go through another three days.
The dragon, not so sure how to respond, rolled his eyes upwards, staring up at the sky. Then, he looked back at Hiccup. Him. He had to be the best reason as to why the dragon lurked so close to Berk. If Hiccup kept coming out this far from Berk, he could figure out what made humans tick. Not to mention, he could cause a bit of mischief to the viking if he could see him once again.
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Post by Hiccup on Sept 25, 2011 11:30:09 GMT -5
At first, unsurprisingly, Hiccup didn't quite understand Toothless' answer. Did it have something to do with the sky? Or flying? From what Hiccup could tell, the Night Fury still looked perfectly capable of flying. That seemed to rule that reason out. Then Hiccup came to a conclusion. Toothless had turned his gaze back to him after looking upward. Was... he the reason? Had the black dragon taken an interest in him? If that was the case, Hiccup couldn't honestly blame Toothless. He was about as un-Viking like as anything. Maybe the dragon wanted to know what made humans work the way they did.
In a sense, Hiccup found himself drawn to Toothless the same way. Maybe that was the real reason he had wandered so far from Berk again. Perhaps on some subconscious level Hiccup had wanted to know if Toothless was living somewhere nearby or if he would get to see the black dragon of mystery in the daylight. The day's events had certainly proven him right about seeing his scaly friend again, in the daylight no less. But Hiccup wanted to confirm that he was the reason Toothless had decided to hang around.
"...Me?" Hiccup asked. "Is that it? You wanted to find out more about the guy that spared you?" he ventured curiously. It never once occurred to Hiccup how odd the scene must have looked to anyone watching. Of course, he doubted that anyone was watching. A boy and a dragon seeming to hold a conversation? It was no wonder most of the Berkians wrote him off as weird; Hiccup was the king of weird.
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Post by Toothless on Sept 25, 2011 12:05:28 GMT -5
The dragon nodded to the much more fleshy other, getting up to his paws. Toothless felt curiosity get the better of him, inching closer to Hiccup, head tilted slightly as he scanned over the viking. There were several things that differed between the two. Size, weight, texture, not to mention clothing. But, both had green eyes. Well, different shades of green of course. It seemed unlikely for the two to know anything more than looks.
The Night Fury hoped not. He wanted to know more about Hiccup. Who was this viking who was so different from the others? He didn't go for the kill. Everyone else would have taken that chance in a heartbeat, Toothless was sure of it.
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Post by Hiccup on Sept 25, 2011 12:23:55 GMT -5
Seeing as he was still so close to the tree he had ended up near before Toothless had initially shown up, Hiccup didn't really have anywhere else to go when Toothless opted to move closer. Surprisingly, though, Hiccup didn't feel inclined to move away. He stayed right where he was and allowed the big black dragon to move closer. The opportunity to reach out and touch Toothless was so near, so tempting... he just had to know what a dragon's hide felt like. He probably was the only Viking that felt that way. The others would have killed Toothless in a heartbeat. Him? He'd let the Night Fury live. Hiccup was glad he had, otherwise he would have been Gronckle food.
If Toothless was so willing to get close to Hiccup, maybe it would be okay to try and touch him. Seeing as he was weaponless, as he had dropped his dagger that he had used to kill the rabbits when the Gronckle initially gave chase, it should have been okay. Slowly, carefully, Hiccup moved his hand a bit closer to Toothless. He didn't want to move too fast, just in case Toothless still didn't trust him entirely, and so stopped short of actually touching him. There's so much we could learn about these dragons if we just gave them a chance. Maybe they're not as bad as the others think.
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Post by Toothless on Sept 25, 2011 12:47:24 GMT -5
One eye twitched slightly at the sight of the hand, the dragon stopping in his tracks. Toothless wasn't sure if he should let the viking touch him. He was wild, untamed, free, he should just get up and leave now. His snout scrunched up, the dragon fighting with himself on either letting Hiccup touch him or not. The dragon's head was no longer tilted. His eyes, surprisingly, didn't turn to slits, still big happy orbs of curiosity.
The dragon was finished with his inner battle. He glared at the hand for a few moments, possibly to confuse the viking, then nudged his head forward to the hand. The viking's touch was one he never felt before. A sound came out of the dragon's throat. A low, growl noise of content. Lids shut over the pale green dragon eyes, only to flicker open moments later to watch the viking's reaction.
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Post by Hiccup on Sept 25, 2011 12:59:45 GMT -5
In all honesty, Hiccup hadn't expected Toothless to allow himself to be touched by a human, much less a Viking. Feeling the cool, scaly skin of Toothless' snout against his hand was surprising to say the least, but it was also a good thing in Hiccup's mind. Perhaps a step toward possible friendship between Vikings and dragons. Maybe. He would probably be torn limb from limb if he tried the same tactic with any other dragon. But for a long moment, nothing else mattered. It was just him and Toothless. A soft smile formed on Hiccup's face as he let the moment sink in. He was probably the first Viking in the history of Berk to even get close enough to a dragon to touch them without having any malicious intent.
Just as slowly as he had moved his hand forward, he retracted after a few moments. "See? That wasn't so bad. ...Vikings aren't all bad." he murmured. "...Dragons aren't all bad, either." Hiccup realized. Sparing Toothless had meant that his own life had been saved. Dragons weren't all inherently evil. They couldn't be if Toothless had saved his life. If they just took the time to learn more about dragons, to learn that maybe they weren't so bad, maybe things would be different on the Isle of Berk.
That settled it. Hiccup needed to learn more about dragons. There had to be more to them than they knew, more to them than what was written in the dragon book... it was all just a matter of sneaking away from Berk often enough to learn more. Another oddity, Hiccup realized, that would likely draw attention to him. He would have to come up with more than one reason for sneaking off on his own. Assuming, of course, that Toothless really would hang around the area.
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Post by Toothless on Sept 25, 2011 13:46:52 GMT -5
Toothless wrinkled his snout a bit once Hiccup pulled his hand away. The dragon wasn't used to being touched, certainly not by a human at least. Another dragon's claws he'd probably be much more used to, but a human touch? Much more different. His eyes were still orbs of curiosity, the noise he had made stopped once Hiccup removed his hand. The dragon wasn't sure what to do now. Leave?
If he left, then he could miss some opportunities. Hiccup could follow him, though. The dragon didn't see anyone else besides Hiccup and the Gronckle, who was probably long gone by now. Surely it wouldn't hurt to take the viking to the dragon's new resting ground, a bit close to Berk. The Night Fury would have to travel on foot, sure, but it'd be worth it. Once the dragon turned and walked a bit of a distance, he motioned Hiccup to follow him with his tail, although it was possible he might have hit the viking by accident.
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Post by Hiccup on Sept 25, 2011 14:05:01 GMT -5
As Toothless started to walk away, Hiccup opened his mouth to ask where he was going. A bit pointless, really, since Toothless couldn't speak in a way Hiccup could understand, but it was just a gut reaction to having someone walk away from him for no reason. Then he caught the motion of Toothless' tail. It took a moment, but Hiccup caught on. It seemed as though Toothless might be taking him somewhere. He didn't see any reason to not follow along. After all, it would give him a chance to learn more... right? Besides, he didn't have anything better to do. Going back to Berk after what had just happened seemed like a waste. He might as well stay out for a while longer since he did intend on avoiding being seen by Snotlout a bit longer.
Surprisingly, Hiccup hadn't been whacked by Toothless' tail. It was lucky on his part, really. With the bad luck he seemed to have been affected by that day it was lucky he was still standing. "Okay, I'm coming." Hiccup said at last. Hiccup at last followed after Toothless, his walking being just a bit slower than normal since he still felt a bit tender from all the things that had happened to him in such a short amount of time. It wasn't long before he was walking near Toothless. The thought of how strange the pair must have looked crossed his mind again, but he didn't comment. Toothless probably realized it, too.
"Oh... and my name's Hiccup." Hiccup said offhandedly. If he knew Toothless' name, it only seemed to make sense that Toothless should know his. The dragon couldn't just go around thinking of him as 'that twiggy Viking that spared my life', now could he? ...Well, it made sense in Hiccup's mind.
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