(no subject)
Living on a magically beautiful tropical island and having a dragon at his back, it was easy to feel immortal. It was easy to fly up close to the sun, lean forward to grin recklessly at Toothless, and laugh as he unhooked his leg from the pedal. They were so high up that the air almost felt cool, despite the cloudless sky and warm sun, and the wind whipping around them felt like a challenge. "Ready, buddy?" he half-shouted into Toothless' ear. The dragon rumbled and Hiccup unclipped his belt restraints and leaped out of his harness and into a balanced crouch on Toothless' back. From there, it was thrillingly easy to leap, secure in the knowledge that as he angled his body down headfirst, careening toward the ground, he could see Toothless bending forward, wings tucked against his sides, both of them letting go into a freefall.
Rocketing toward the earth, Hiccup felt weightless, even more so when Toothless gave him a tap on the back with his paw and Hiccup was able to rotate himself around, spiraling down like a leaf. His eyes stung from the wind, but Hiccup didn't dare close them as he watched Toothless. A year ago, maybe, this maneuver wouldn't have been remotely possible. Hiccup would have been too scared and Toothless would have been too injured, maybe also still too angry. Now they moved through the air like one, laughing as the tops of the trees grew bigger in their sight.
In the last second, when the trees seemed only a few yards away, Toothless spun himself toward Hiccup, wings spreading wide. In the same instant, Hiccup kicked back into the harness as his hands yanked the restraints forward and hooked himself back in. With one push downward, they were aloft again, Toothless' claws skimming the tops of the trees as Hiccup whooped his victory.
"Let's finish this off!" They swooped down to the beach, coasting over the sand, and Hiccup jumped onto Toothless back again, letting the dragon buck him up and forward into the air. Just as his stomach flipped weightlessly, he slammed back into gravity as dragon paws caught him under the shoulders and skimmed him along the sand as he descended all the way down.
Just as they stopped, Hiccup felt his metal foot catch on something big and heavy, surprising enough that he shocked forward out of Toothless' grasp, barely managing not to eat sand. "What the-" He flipped over onto his back and sat up, trying to see just what it was he'd fallen over.
"Whoa." Hiccup moved forward onto his knees and dragged the heavy tome onto his lap so he could run his fingers over the curled dragon stamped into the leather, knowing he would flip it open to find familiar runes.
"Hey, bud." Grinning, Hiccup turned to the empty page on Night Furies. "Look what it says about you: 'Night Fury. Speed: unknown. Size: unknown. The unholy offspring of lightning and Death itself. Never engage this dragon. Your only hope: hide and pray it does not find you.' And not even a picture. No one knew a thing until I met you."
Toothless bent down to sniff at the book, nosing the pages a bit, snorting, apparently, at the lack of information about him. "I know, I know," Hiccup agreed, reaching into his vest to take out a bit of charcoal. "Let's update the entry, huh?" Toothless seemed to find this agreeable and he curled around his friend while Hiccup propped the book on his knees and began writing in neat, confident runes, updating the Dragon Manual's page on Night Furies and their training.
[[Hiccup's item post, the Dragon Manual, full of information on dragons, most of which can be summed up as "Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight." Feel free to see Hiccup plummeting from the sky or else just sitting on the beach, obsessively correcting every page on the best way to train and befriend a dragon. Timed to mid-morning of the 30th]]
Rocketing toward the earth, Hiccup felt weightless, even more so when Toothless gave him a tap on the back with his paw and Hiccup was able to rotate himself around, spiraling down like a leaf. His eyes stung from the wind, but Hiccup didn't dare close them as he watched Toothless. A year ago, maybe, this maneuver wouldn't have been remotely possible. Hiccup would have been too scared and Toothless would have been too injured, maybe also still too angry. Now they moved through the air like one, laughing as the tops of the trees grew bigger in their sight.
In the last second, when the trees seemed only a few yards away, Toothless spun himself toward Hiccup, wings spreading wide. In the same instant, Hiccup kicked back into the harness as his hands yanked the restraints forward and hooked himself back in. With one push downward, they were aloft again, Toothless' claws skimming the tops of the trees as Hiccup whooped his victory.
"Let's finish this off!" They swooped down to the beach, coasting over the sand, and Hiccup jumped onto Toothless back again, letting the dragon buck him up and forward into the air. Just as his stomach flipped weightlessly, he slammed back into gravity as dragon paws caught him under the shoulders and skimmed him along the sand as he descended all the way down.
Just as they stopped, Hiccup felt his metal foot catch on something big and heavy, surprising enough that he shocked forward out of Toothless' grasp, barely managing not to eat sand. "What the-" He flipped over onto his back and sat up, trying to see just what it was he'd fallen over.
"Whoa." Hiccup moved forward onto his knees and dragged the heavy tome onto his lap so he could run his fingers over the curled dragon stamped into the leather, knowing he would flip it open to find familiar runes.
"Hey, bud." Grinning, Hiccup turned to the empty page on Night Furies. "Look what it says about you: 'Night Fury. Speed: unknown. Size: unknown. The unholy offspring of lightning and Death itself. Never engage this dragon. Your only hope: hide and pray it does not find you.' And not even a picture. No one knew a thing until I met you."
Toothless bent down to sniff at the book, nosing the pages a bit, snorting, apparently, at the lack of information about him. "I know, I know," Hiccup agreed, reaching into his vest to take out a bit of charcoal. "Let's update the entry, huh?" Toothless seemed to find this agreeable and he curled around his friend while Hiccup propped the book on his knees and began writing in neat, confident runes, updating the Dragon Manual's page on Night Furies and their training.
[[Hiccup's item post, the Dragon Manual, full of information on dragons, most of which can be summed up as "Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight." Feel free to see Hiccup plummeting from the sky or else just sitting on the beach, obsessively correcting every page on the best way to train and befriend a dragon. Timed to mid-morning of the 30th]]
