[HTTYD] TPIIP: The Queen Falls, chapter 10

To Put It In Perspective: The Queen Falls, a DreamWorks' How to Train Your Dragon fanfic by Raberba girl

Chapter 10 (rough draft)

 

My head...hurts...so much....

 

I think it was that keening sound that dragged me out of unconsciousness.  When I open my eyes, I see Stoick slumped nearby, looking more pitiful than any alpha ever should, moaning continuously in grief.  The rest of his dragon warriors are gathered around us, silent and drooping.  Some of my own people are uncertainly approaching, Stormfly and her troop comforting their fledglings.

 

For a confused minute, I'm not sure what all the fuss is about - isn't the queen dead??  She is dead, isn't she?!  Then I realize with a jolt of mixed feelings that they're all grieving for Hiccup.  Of course they are - he's the child of the dragon king, he's the biggest dragon hero of this battle that is possibly the very last one of this horrible pointless war.  He's still unconscious, they think he's dead, and the only reason I'm not freaking out thinking he's dead, too, is because I'm holding him so tightly against my chest that I can feel the faint pulse of his heartbeat.  "We did it, Hiccup," I whisper.

 

I don't want to let him go, but his father deserves to know he's safe.  Reluctantly, I uncurl my arms.

 

Stoick's eyes widen and he practically lunges forward, scaring me.  He's such a huge dragon, especially when I'm sprawled prone on the ground like this, but of course he doesn't pay me the least attention, his eyes are all for Hiccup.  He nudges Hiccup gently, then raises his head and gives a bark of delight that sets off the whole flock, roaring and flapping their wings like crazy.

 

Then Stoick gazes at me for a long minute, and to my surprise, he leans forward and nuzzles me.  And licks a scent-mark on me.  I'm touched, and the last lingering bit of resentment fades.  I manage to raise a hand and pat the dragon king's neck before I lose consciousness again.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

My people have been slaves for so long that they don't really know what to do now that our master is dead.  A surprisingly high number of them decide to camp out with the dragons at their nest, apparently intending to just live there until they kick us out.  I'm one of them, except in my case the decision revolves entirely around Hiccup.  If he goes solitary after he recovers, then I'm with him for whatever life throws our way.  If he stays with his flock, then I'm staying, too.  I will crawl around on all fours and eat fish for the rest of my life if I have to, but my home is with him, even if that home is a dragon nest instead of a 'proper' human village.

 

The dragons adjust surprisingly well to their crowd of new flightless, two-legged 'flockmates,' covering us with scent-marks and integrating us into their social structure.  They don't object to my people building shelters or bringing in all kinds of not-fish things for food.

 

The dragons are really protective of their recovered treasure hoards for a while, but even they realize that we actually don't have any practical interest in it, now that there's no queen to steal it for and we've never used it as currency, anyway.  As the dragons get more and more relaxed, some of my people, especially women, start appropriating a few particularly pretty pieces, but the amounts are so small and the dragons have such a surplus of treasure now (and we're all living companions, anyway) that the tiny thefts are tolerated.

 

I stay out of it.  I only care about Hiccup.  I spend most of my time with him, curled up in the cave where he and the alpha apparently live together, sharing my bed with him.  He still hasn't awakened, even though it's been over a week since the battle, and now I worry sometimes that he might sleep forever.

 

His poor wing is still shredded.  He's still never going to fly again.  The injury is healed as much as it's ever going to get, but that giant hole is still there forever and I wish so much that I could have saved him without crippling him.  But I couldn't, he'd be dead now if I hadn't done what I did, and none of the dragons have held it against me for a moment, not even Stoick.  The alpha is so glad that his son is still alive.  Even though he's busy with dragon business, he stops by often to croon at our unconscious living treasure and nuzzle him and make sure he's all right.

 

Though I don't know if Hiccup will still be all right if he keeps up this never-waking-up thing for too long....

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

I feel it.  Hiccup is stirring.

 

Excited, I suck in a breath and tilt Hiccup a bit so I can lay my hand on his chest, reassuring myself with his heartbeat.  I scratch him lightly to encourage him to wake up.  "Hey, Hiccup...hey, buddy, hey, open your eyes?  I can feel you~  I know you're there~  Come on, little guy, it's time to wake up now.  Please?"

 

Slowly, his beautiful green eyes crack open, and I can't help making a girly squeal of delight.  He croons very softly at me.

 

"Hiccup~!!"  I bury my face in his stomach, which is so warm and a lot softer against my face than the harder scales on the rest of his body are.  I lift my head again and grin at him.  With a bit of difficulty, he licks my cheek.  "Come on, buddy, up and at 'em!"  I try to nudge him onto his paws, but he yelps; gah, too fast!  I want to grab him and squeeze him and whirl him around, but the poor thing is still too fragile for that, so I have to vent my joy by jumping to my feet and doing a little dance around the cave.

 

A shocked croaking sound draws my attention again, and when I look back at Hiccup, my heart suddenly plummets.  He's discovered his wing.

 

He stares at it for a minute, making faint horrified noises, and I creep back to him feeling sick with guilt.  Before I can stop him, he leaps into the air and flaps madly as if trying to take flight, and I manage to catch him before he crashes.

 

He makes his horrible wail, and on impulse, I flop onto my side and expose my belly in a dragon apology.  He doesn't even acknowledge it as he staggers close and curls into my chest, seeking comfort.  I put my arms around him and kiss him and whisper apologies.

 

After a while, he recovers enough to raise his head again and flutter his wings testingly.  He gives the torn one a long look, more appraising now than horrified, then carefully folds both wings close against his sides.  He raises his head high, gazing at me.  Then he nuzzles me, croaks a "Let's go" noise, and moves slowly toward the cave mouth.

 

Hookfang chooses that moment to race by, waving a sword and hollering as if he's in the heat of battle.  Hiccup squawks in alarm and leaps back.  He forgets about his wing and flutters as if trying to get airborne; I catch him again, and he nestles in my arms and licks me anxiously.  Then he seems to realize that the brown fledgling, whom Fang has named 'Snotlout,' is clinging to his human's back, flapping madly as he tries to keep his balance on Hookfang's active body.

 

Stormfly follows close behind, her gait and Astrid's balance much more graceful.  The troop has been practicing this for a couple of days now, since it can sometimes be useful for a human-and-dragon pair to know how to move together.  They've also been practicing team attacks, figuring out how best to use each species' strengths and compensate for their weaknesses.  Human-and-dragon pairs can be much more deadly to prey (or potential enemies) than when we're limited to just one species or the other.

 

Hiccup, now perched as easily on my shoulders as if he'd never left them, stares out at his transformed nest in amazement.  "Yup," I laugh, "we're all family now.  You're cool with that, right?"  Hiccup warbles in delight.

 

Stoick, seeing his son awake, bounds over to us and barks at Hiccup, who stiffens for a moment before crooning at his father and hopping delicately from my shoulders to his.  They nuzzle each other's faces, then all sorts of dragons are coming to greet Hiccup.

 

Astrid fights her way through the crowd of bigger dragons and purrs when she sees Hiccup.  She nips him, making him yelp, but then she presses right into him and twines her tail with his.  He looks shocked for a minute, then hesitantly nuzzles her cheek.  She barks something and leaps away, pausing in this sort of coy little, "Well, aren't you going to chase me~?" pose.

 

Hiccup's head whips between her and me; crowing, I scoop him onto my shoulder and charge at his little girlfriend.  Astrid shrieks with what sounds like laughter and leaps into the air.

 

Stormfly and all the other humans and dragons of her troop come swooping in to turn the courtship chase (???) into a race or a game, and the rest of that afternoon, where I'm free and the war is over and the person I love most is safe and alive and happy, is the most perfect one I can ever remember having in my whole life.

 

To be continued in Book 2 - The King Rises.

 

Author's Notes:  Although I do hope to cover HTTYD2 (and HTTYD3) eventually, I can't promise it'll be anytime soon.  At the moment, I've been drafting Carried Off like a madwoman this whole month, so I probably won't work on anything else until either I finish CO or my muse gets distracted.