A Dragon and His Boy

He had figured it out ages ago.  When Hiccup had come into his life and given him the Viking name "Toothless," he had been a young dragon.  Only out of the egg by five years, but compared to a human, he'd been an adult.  Actually, he'd been about the same age as Hiccup; a young man whiskering around the edges of adulthood, ready to become something great.

Potential!  They had both had potential untapped, waiting to be found.

Funny how they hadn't been able to tap that waiting prowess without each other.

Time had gone by, of course.  Hiccup had grown into his full hide; become a powerfully built man.  He'd been the village's blacksmith, taking up the trade when Gobber had passed on.  He'd been the chief dragon-trainer, teaching those who had the temperament to pair with dragons how to understand their reptilian soulmates.

Toothless had had the arduous task of teaching the dragons how to tolerate their frail human partners, but fortunately for most, they'd listened to him.

Hiccup had grown and Astrid had, too.  The pair of them had mated and produced younglings, much to Toothless' and Fire-Spitter's (Astrid's Deadly Nadder companion) chagrin.  Still, for their humans, they put up with the small humans crawling all over them as if they were toys.

Time had passed some more.  Hiccup's younglings grew and grew.  Astrid and Fire-Spitter were lost in a training accident.  Hiccup's hair, long and thick, had turned dark gray and then, finally, white.

Their riding together had slowed down to almost nothing.  Hiccup's body pained him as it weakened with age and he no longer possessed the reflexes to properly operate the tail fin.  He'd conceded to that fact by making a new harness that allowed Toothless the ability to pull the cord and flick the tail fin himself.

They'd nearly died several times until Toothless had gotten the hang of flying without Hiccup's aid.

He padded along beside his human now, the two of them warm in the sunshine of a fine, late Spring day.  Toothless became aware of Hiccup's gaze and turned his head with a questioning purr at his human.

"You look good, buddy," Hiccup wheezed, his voice low and scratchy.  "Like you're fresh out of the egg."

Lord of Dragons, he hoped not!  Thank the stars Hiccup had never seen him as a hatchling.  He'd been nothing but scrawny limbs and neck, and wrinkly leather flaps of skin for wings.  He'd done nothing but trip over himself constantly until he'd finally grown and righted himself out.

"So handsome," Hiccup said, his voice tender, and a heavy, callused hand stroked along Toothless' neck.  "I envy you being a dragon, you know.  Always have.  You're so..."

He didn't finish the sentence, but he didn't need to.  Toothless knew what he was trying to say and appreciated the compliment.

He heard the plaintive call from one of his hatchlings.  He glanced across an open stretch of air to the training grounds a mile or two distant.  No longer used as a training ground to kill dragons, they were now used to train dragons... and humans.

His hatchling called again; a sleek and lovely Night Fury male that bid fair to become as great and powerful as his sire.  The hatchling wanted his sire to be with him, to be grand with him, to approve of him.  Toothless roared back: My human needs me.  You are doing well.  Carry on!

He would not leave Hiccup's side; not for anything.  His old boy needed him now more than ever.

The two of them turned to face the ocean, looking out over the rough-chop swells of the water below them.  They were utterly silent, basking in the scent of the salt-air, the warmth of the sun, the pleasure of each other's company.

And then, Hiccup said quietly, "I want to fly today."

Toothless shifted and dropped low to the ground beside his human, making it easier for Hiccup's creaky old body to climb aboard.  He waited for Hiccup to lock himself into place and take hold of the saddle horns, and then waddled up to the edge of the cliff.  Tipping himself over the edge, he dropped off.

Wind rushed along the length of his body and he unfurled his wings into the cool stream, along them to fill and let the wind hurl him aloft, away from the dark water below.  He glided higher, moving easily to keep from hurting Hiccup.  Thanks to the new contraption, he could fly hard and fast if he wanted to, but he rarely ventured away from Hiccup anymore.

His old boy needed him, and he did not want to be parted from Hiccup.

They swirled into the blue sky and drifted away on the breeze, an old boy and his dragon, together on the wing.

They flew for miles, away from the village.  They had long ago explored the wider world than simply what the boats had previously known.  Toothless had taken Hiccup (and the two of them leading others) far and wide, to new lands and smells and things.  Colonies of younglings had departed to make new lives elsewhere with their dragons, though they came back to the village occasionally to catch up on news and trade.

They flew, going north toward a beautiful land not heavily populated but now used to seeing dragons and people together.

Toothless heard Hiccup murmur something, so low and hoarse even his dragon ears could not make the noise into words.  He hummed a reply, knowing Hiccup would feel it, and received a pat on his neck in return.

They flew... and Hiccup gradually became a heavy weight, slumping in the saddle, leaning ponderously against Toothless' neck.

Toothless moaned; the sound of grief echoed over the countryside.   His old boy... oh, Hiccup.

Toothless fixed his eyes on a distant mountain and pumped his wing muscles to take him higher, faster.  There was no need to be slow, now.  Below, humans in new settlements saw him flash by with his white-haired rider atop him.  Later, they would tell others who would come searching for them about how they'd been amazed at the old man's ability to master such a strong dragon.

Toothless rose higher into the sky until he was a dark speck against the blue.  He lined himself up... and then, descended.  He dived in a straight line, down, down, down toward the open caldera and the shimmering heat within.

He was a young dragon, as dragon-age went.  Young, powerful... in his prime and could be for another two-hundred years if he chose.

But his boy would not be beside him, young or old, and the thought of going through those years alone without his soulmate crippled his heart.

The heat was intense, but then, it had to be in order to affect even a dragon.  Flames began licking along Toothless' hide; ignited the hair and clothing of his rider.

They were almost there.

Almost.

A few more-

The lava gave a sick, slurpy belch as Toothless plunged himself and Hiccup's body into the red-orange liquid fire.  Magma sprayed in all directions and then settled with sizzling plops as dragon and rider disappeared into death together.

Miles away, humans heard the rumble and saw an explosion of flame gout up from the caldera.  People readied to flee the area... and then, calmed when nothing else happened.  They laughed as they joked about even the world needed to let off a little gas now and then.

The volcano settled down, closing the memory of a dragon and his boy within its fiery depths.