Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The human is a sight, a scent, a presence he is not used to.

In the last seasons he had been more and more alone, his Light having grown a little more distant again after their young had matured into juveniles. Maybe they can hatch another clutch sometime soon. He would like that. He had liked raising their young and teaching them how to fly and play and hunt and he had liked cooing to them about the adventures he had had and about his other half.

His Light never had much liked that, but she had gotten used to it and he is glad for it. It helps him remember.

The ice had come and gone many times and sometimes the warmth had brought him his human, his heart, his soul.

The first time he had not been alone. He had brought Astrid with him and their own young, two of them who had smelled of fear and wonder.

The human who has come to him now smells of fear, too. Wonder not so much. 

He can smell, however, tears and hot anger.

She also smells of death, although not her own, but still the scent hangs in the air.

Her little shell of a boat makes some noise as it splashes against the rock he so often  naps on these days.

Her feet are covered in furs and leather and make hardly any sound as she walks up to him.

How fierce her stride is. She looks like him like this, stern face, auburn hair and clad in figure-hugging leather, an adversary to fear and an ally to behold.

His heart beats fast as he beholds her. She is so much like him but not him, never him. For that she is too much like her mother in the way she lowers her head and fixes her bright, blue stare at him, the way she curls and flexes her hands as if itching for an iron weapon.

She has brought none. 

Toothless is grateful for that.

He remains where he is, still and quiet as she comes closer, for he fears not freezing, but fuelling her. Another thing she shares with her mother. 

“You!” She, too remains on her spot, shaking. “What are you doing here?!”

A soft breeze picks up and carries her smell.

Fear, seawater, tears, sweat and a stench, just a whiff, a hint, but it is disturbing, it is cold, it is rotting, it-

“He always told us about you,” she says, her voice sharp. “He always told us how you were there for him, how you saved his life, how you-” Her breath hitches.

She doesn’t seem to have any iron with her, so it is probably safe to approach her, but Toothless is wary, still. Humans can carry stones and they can throw them with their hands or hurl them with slings.

Hiccup bad? he warbles, but the girl flinches at his noises and lurches, as if ready to attack. 

Fight-or-flight response. This girl is definitely fight, all the way through. The tiny, little human Hiccup had brought to him so many years ago has become a warrior. Somehow Toothless wishes he had been there, but he hasn’t. 

He stays where he is.

Hiccup? he repeats, Hiccup alright?

Again the girl flinches.

Ah, right. She has never learned to speak their tongue. How could anyone teach her when there were no dragons around to practise with?

Toothless sits down and tucks his front legs under his body, hoping that she will understand, he will not attack her, he will not harm her, he would never do anything to his human’s children, never.

He inhales deeply, trying to analyze what’s wrong with her scent, why it smells so-

“Where were you?!” she bursts out, all of a sudden, “where were you, he needed you, he-” 

There is salt on her face. He gets to his feet again, comes closer and- and recoils from the stench as he recognizes it.

Rotting flesh, fever, death, clings to the girl, but she is not the one dying, so-

Hiccup! Hiccup bad, Hiccup hurt! he growls and the girl looks at him as if she actually understands him.

Her eyes are reddened and hard. “At least you can make sure he sees you a last time! You owe him that!”

Her words snap him out of it and Toothless spends a brief moment to recollect what he  knows.

The girl is upset. She smells of rot and death; she is not hurt, but the scent is connected to Hiccup.

He has to go, he has to go right now, and so he quickly spreads his wings.

Then he pauses and looks at the girl and her boat that is so much slower than a dragon’s wing.

Come! he snaps and lowers a wing, an invitation for her, Fly with Toothless, fly back, fast!

She shakes her head. “How crazy do you-” She pauses and her own gaze wanders to her boat.

Toothless can see her calculating, her head working, quickly, quickly, running through all possibilities and then, with an annoyed “Argh!” she stomps over and climbs on his back.

Her boots scratch over his scales and he wants to wince, but he holds still.

“Don’t you dare throwing me off,” she hisses and tries to find something to hold on when Toothless already takes off.

Flying with her is nothing like flying with Hiccup. Even on their first ride they had fit together marvelously.

The girl clings to him in sheer terror, her legs cramping around his sides, her fingers dig and claw into his skin and she has no clue whatsoever how to follow his movements, but-

He has no time to care for that. 

He flies with fast beats of his wings, barely aware of his burden, and it is only late, late, late in the night that he finds a rocky island to land and rest.

He catches some fish for himself and some for the girl and lights a fire for her that reflects in her hair and dances in her eyes as she watches him with the same wariness as before.

Only as he warbles and gestures to the fish she finally takes it and puts it over the fire before devouring it. It’s a good sight.

Like that, wolfing down her food, face covered in grease, dim firelight flicking over her, she looks so much like him it stabs Toothless right into his lungs, especially when she looks up at him with distrusting, cool eyes and the illusion shatters. 

When they settle for sleep, he still offers her his wing, but she wraps herself in her coat and lays down, staring at him from the other side of the fire.

He meets her gaze with calm, steady eyes. She is Hiccup’s child. He will not let harm befall her. She is safe with him. 

He wants to-

“You should have been there,” she suddenly says and he lifts his head.

She is still staring at him, unblinking. It is more than just a little unnerving. 

“They came because they wanted to get you,” she hisses, “And you weren’t there, you- if you had been there they could have taken you and be done with it and-” Her voice hitches.

Toothless watches her cry as he refuses to let the words sink in.

He cannot, he must not, he has to keep it together, he has to focus on getting there, getting to Hiccup in time, he has to keep it in until then.

From the other side of the fire he hears suppressed sniffles. Supposedly the girl feels the same.

She shivers in her sleep.

When, after a while, Toothless gets up and, with soft steps, walks up and lays down next to her, it is as much for keeping her warm as it is for his own comfort.

He wraps her into the furls and folds of his wings and holds her close and feels her sobs trickle into his skin. He does his best not to think about it, does his best to get some sleep, does his best to find some peace.

They continue in the morning without her saying anything. Well before dawn she climbs on his back with secure, steady movements and holds on to him with secure, stable hands.

When they take off and fly, she ducks closely over his neck and moves with him and sometimes, just for a brief moment, it is like nothing has ever changed.

Chapter Text

Chapter 02

They fly and fly and fly and the sea beneath them moves on and flashes and changes, from deep, almost-black bue to paler shades and then green and blue again and then, in the late afternoon as the sun is setting, Toothless can smell land in the distance, the scent of earth and greenery and humans and everything that comes with them, hand-built stone caves and worked and aged wood and cooked and smoked foods and so much more, so much more, that brings memories back, a time lived, a time loved, a time cherished, six season cycles that had been fuller than a lifetime. Six cycles he had shared with his Heart.

His wings ache, but he speeds up again as he sees the shoreline approach and then again as he sees figures scuttle and gather along the shore, he sees the people, he recognizes them, so many of them by their gait, by the way they throw back their shoulders, he sees the Old Steelmaker, the Young Paperman, the Warrior, he sees the Two Fools, he sees Her, her sunny hair tucked up on her head and paler than he remembers it, She stands and stares and then turns and runs.

The girl’s hands dig into his skin and he hears a choking sound that gets carried away by the winds.

He hurries even more as he sees how She returns, along with Her boy, he recognizes him, he remembers him, he had been so scared and then so happy, just like the girl on his back had been back then, half a lifetime ago.  He is nimble now, quick and strong and ready to help his mother to pick up and carry their shared burden, he moves like Hiccup, so much like Hiccup that Toothless rushes, even faster, ever more, always ever more, ever faster, faster, faster and more so when he recognizes their burden, sees a shock of auburn hair and when he comes closer he sees his eyes, still bright, still piercing, but so dim, so, so very tired.

They come closer, closer, ever closer and Toothless’ heart sinks deeper and deeper as the scent grows stronger despite the strong sea breeze and when they land it almost chokes him and the girl almost hurls him around as she jumps off his back and rushes over to her father who looks at her and who is all Toothless sees, all Toothless can see.

Hiccup has changed.

He had always been changed whenever they had met, touched by the time that affects him much more than any dragon.

The first time they had met he had been scrawny and small with so much energy and no way to let it out properly and he had grown into a slender, graceful man with the security of a leader.

And then Toothless had left.

And the first time they had met again Hiccup had had children and his face had been half-hidden by a beard, but his eyes had held the same kind, loving sparkle Toothless had always loved so much.

He had come out to be with him from time to time, alone then, and for a long time he had seemed to change very little, a few creases around his eyes aside, or the first touches of frost in his hair. He had been eternally, unchangingly his, his alone, forever his, at least when they met like this.

He had never been a broad man, his Hiccup, he had always been narrow in the shoulders, his strength dense and close to the bones and the heart. 

But now, now he- he is almost reduced to nothing.

Toothless knows he should greet Astrid, and the boy that has her hair and his father’s eyes as well. 

But he can’t.

He can’t see anything than his heart, his love, his soul there, so much smaller now, distilled and burned down and smelling of rot and death and pain.

And yet his smile is so gentle, the same sweetness he had possessed when he had been a scared, little boy desperate to find a place in his world, the same strength and warmth when he had grown to claim this place for himself and fill it and for a moment the years that have passed melt away.

Toothless comes closer, slowly, delicately.

Hiccup is half-sitting, half lying on a long, half-propped up litter, wrapped in furs to keep him warm that dwarf him even more. His gaunt face is grey and bloodless and there is no strength when he lifts his left hand.

Toothless notices that under the furs there is the smell of linen and pus and blood. He pushes the notion aside for a moment and presses his nose to Hiccup’s fingers and something tears at his throat and-

“Hey, buddy.” His voice is a rasp, the rustle of dead leaves in the wind. His skin is dry and cool.

Toothless rumbles. Here, am here, Toothless here, We are here , but it is a sob more  than anything else.

We are here , he replies, softly. And then asks, Is We leaving?

Toothless lifts his head to now, a last look at Astrid. She nods, her eyes wet as she comes closer, just enough to touch his side. “He’s been waiting,” she explains, as if there is any need for words.

Maybe Toothless would have been interested in what had happened, but then again the knowledge of this will not change the fact that it had happened and that now they don’t have any more time left and that-

He closes his eyes and nuzzles Hiccup and breathes in, tries to ignore the stench of decay, tries to focus on the scents he is familiar with.

“I don’t think we need a saddle, do we?” Hiccup whispers. “I can still hold on to you, right, and you couldn’t remove it by you-”

Toothless groans to make him stop speaking and leans over him.

Astrid gently touches him behind his ears. “Let us… he’ll be with you in a moment, just let us… let me… the children, yes?” Her voice is small and strangled, not at all like he had ever heard her, she had always had known her as so strong, so powerful, a natural alpha, nobody to willingly show weakness-

It is enough for him to step away and watch and witness as the girl and the boy come and hug their father, bury their faces in his chest. His arms circle around them with the same exhaustion he had reached out for Toothless with. “You’ll be alright,” he hears him whisper. “You’re great, you’re both so smart, so strong, so clever and so kind, you’ll be fine, you’ll be fine, promise me you’ll be fine, yes?”

The girl and the boy nod and at last, at long last they let go of him for Astrid to kneel down at his side and take his hand. 

Toothless hears her sniffle. “You’re alright?” she asks.

“I’ll be soon, dear,” he replies and touches her cheek, gently. “I’ll be soon and… Can I say how lucky I am for having you?”

“Feeling’s mutual,” she chokes and kisses him first on the cheeks, then the brow and then, briefly and tearfully, on the lips. 

“Thank you. They’ve always been in good hands with you. They’ll be still.”

They hug and then Astrid lets go of him, just enough for Toothless to come close again, just enough for her to help Hiccup on his back, just enough for Hiccup to cling to him.

Then another kiss.

“Don’t fall off,” Toothless hears her whisper. As if he’d ever let Hiccup fall.

“It won’t be a long flight,” he answers, reassuring.

He is right.

It won’t be.

It isn’t.

He takes off without force, only putting enough push in his hind legs to get  them to the winds, and then he spreads his wings, lets the winds carry him, carry them.

Hiccup is so light on his back, so light, almost not present. 

He had always been light on his back, his slender frame fitting perfectly between his wings as they both had grown.

But now he is reduced to almost nothing. The only thing reassuring Toothless of his presence is the slight grip around his neck.

Still he feels him, feels his presence ripple deep down to his core, his being, his self, the point where they had once started their connection from.

He warbles Hiccup fine? as if that is of any matter now.

But, as always it doesn’t matter. As always Hiccup bends over and kisses he nape of his neck and his beard tickles him. “I am fine, I am fine, bud, I’m fine…”

But he is so weak, his breath comes out so softly, so raggedly.

They don’t fly for long anyways.

Toothless  looks and looks and looks.

There are some land banks.

There are also some islands with greenery and trees and life, all the things Hiccup had loved always so much, so, so much.

Thus to an island he flies where  there are animals and trees and soft grass and there he lands, there he lies him  down. there he wraps himself around him and holds him close and purrs to him to soothe his pain, to calm him to ease him, on his-

On his-

On his-

There will be green fields , he tchirps , green fields to roam and woods to explore and-

This is not the traditional idea of an afterlife for these sort of humans, Toothless knows, but it feels so right for Hiccup, so much like him…

“Don’t care,” Hiccup whispers. “there dragons?”

Yes, , Toothless promises, lots and lots of dragons, so many of them .

Good. Hiccup wait for Toothless there then , he whispers before he is slipping away.

Toothless holds him close.

“You’re here. You’re with me..” Hiccup touches the skin behind his ears. “That is more than I’d hoped for, I’d…”

As if Toothless would ever stay away when he knows Hiccup needed him.

Just that he had done just that. He hadn’t been there, just once he hadn’t been there, hadn’t been able to do anything, to-

“Thank you,” he whispers against Toothless’ skin, into the folds of his wings. “Thank you for meeting me, thank you for being with me, thank you, thank you…”

Toothless hums. Of course he is here, of course he is…

Hiccup is silent for a while. “I was… I was so scared when we first met,” he then goes on, his breath soft against Toothless. “And now I just… I don’t want to, I- I don’t want to leave. I want more time, I want…” His breath comes out in short rasps now and he is shaking and Toothless wraps himself around him closer, even closer.

Is right , he purrs, grief etched in his voice, Is life, is time, is …

Is death, Hiccup replies. Not want, not want, not want...

Yes, Toothless says, because there is nothing more to say. 

And again silence, only broken by Hiccup’s shaky breath. 

And then, Want not be chief then. Afraid then, too. Afraid when letting go of Toothless. Much afraid.

There is peace in his voice now. Had that. Will have that.

Hiccup be fine, be good , Toothless purrs, Hiccup be good, Toothless be here.

Yes. Toothless be here. Then good. Then nothing scary.

And then they are silent, silent, silent. 

Hiccup breathes and struggles to breathe and Toothless listens and purrs and hold him close, as close as he can.

Until at last, it is over. A final breath that Toothless doesn’t realize is the last at first. Until no more come.

Until Hiccup doesn’t stir anymore.

Until there is no response to the long, long wail that tears apart the sky.

And after the wail, silence again, only disrupted by the softest sobs and by both uncertainty and knowledge.

Toothless doesn’t know one belief of the afterlife, neither dragon nor human. He doesn’t know whether Hiccup is in a better place now, whether there are green fields to roam, sparkling seas to swim in, blue skies to conquer, he doesn’t know whether Hiccup will sit at the same table as the heroes of Before and his gods of thunder and war and love and wisdom and trickery. Toothless doesn’t know whether Hiccup will meet his father again, that big, strong man he had loved so fiercely and feared so deeply for so long.

He doesn’t know any of that.

He hopes, of course.

But in the end, all he knows is that at last, at long last, Hiccup is at peace.

Chapter Text

Chapter 03 - Epilogue

Vikings had had the tradition to burn their most important chiefs in a longboat, surrounded by possessions denoting their status and supposed to be used in the after life.

Berk - New Berk - is no different.

When their chief  or their chieftess or any other very prominent member of their community dies, they will mourn him with a great feast, they will wrap them in costly furs, they will build a longboat for them to carry them off to the sea and they will light it.

Most vikings believe that the fire sets free the warrior soul. Most of them also believe that the light of their floating pyre will help the dead find the way to Valhalla.

Those of Berk know better.

They know, because they had witnessed it once.

A grand, a good, a noble chief, an esteemed member of the community, just before death will be visited by a dragon and be taken to Valhalla by this most supernatural steed.

Not all chiefs will be granted that grace.

Aside from Chief Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, no chief had ever received that grace. Rumours have it that Astrid, his wife and his heir, chieftess after him until her death had been taken by a dragon too, but she had left the village of Berk in the middle of the night, feeling her death nearing upon her. She had never returned but some of the old wives of the village, mere children back in the days of Astrid The Just claim a shape, winged and barbed and spiked, had come to the place where she had gone.

Nobody knows for sure. Nobody had been up close.

But it is enough for the Berkians to know. They know, and they never forget that dragons exist, that they once lived with them, just like that.

They know.

And when a dragon doesn’t appear before that person’s death, they will, adhering to tradition, send them out on the sea and set them afire, because maybe, just maybe a dragon will spot it and come over to carry them off, if they are just worthy enough.

There never are any dragons. And still, the Berkians are sure.

Dragons will come to fetch them. And one day,  dragons will come and live with them once more.