Night Fury's Skull

A HttyD Drabble, Post-HttyD2, Rated K+ for a Death, Angst/Tragedy.

[Adoptable 'Plot Bunny'. See A/N for more.]

_X-x-X_

Was it his fault? Was he responsible for this dragon's death?

…Was he really the last Night Fury now?

Hunched over the un-moving, lifeless body of his older brother, Darkflame, the small, lithe dragonet let out a mourning cry that sent shivers down the spines of all who heard.

And he cried.

At the time, the young beast didn't know how or why the liquid, a pale blue, cold substance, seeped out the corners of his luminescent green eyes. He just knew great pain, terrible loss, and near-overwhelming grief.

He hadn't intended for a rockslide to occur.

He hadn't asked for Darkflame to swoop down and heroically save his backside.

But he had- and this was the cost.

Why? Why was fate so glaringly cruel? What had they ever done to deserve this?

Nothing.

Nothing.

So why?

The dragonet doubted he would ever know.

Fate never played nice.

_X-x-X_

"Whataya think, Bud? Will we finally find another Night Fury?"

Toothless sighed, and resisted the urge to roll his eyes; Hiccup's enthusiasm astounded him sometimes.

Hiccup merely snorted.

If only you knew... Toothless thought silently, his wings riding the gentle winds that graced their nightly flight. The day had been hard on both of them- Chiefing had begun to take a toll on his rider, and it was obvious.

However, Toothless wasn't far away from the same.

Being an Alpha dragon, he apparently needed to look 'bolder, menacing, imposing' as Cloudjumper had put it, to boost how much work he had on his wing shoulders now. He had to act and look like he was indeed the king of dragon-kind.

And heck, he filled that category easily now.

Toothless' scales had somehow gotten darker, shinier, stronger, glittering like jewels in the sunlight. Lean muscle was now building on his even sleeker, longer figure. His great, shadowy wings even more threatening, sharp to the tips, and when he dove they left wisps of air in their wake, prominent reminders of whom was the conqueror of the skies. His teeth seemed to chomp through his increased piles of fish even quicker, devouring them easily when they slid down his throat, and his sharp claws like knives would click on hard surfaces such as stone.

Every movement he made just screamed dangerous.

When Hiccup had questioned his sudden 'growth spurt', as they were calling it, Valka, the Chief's birthmother, had simply shrugged, eyed him with something between wonder and intrigue, and said it was likely because of his new role as Alpha.

Hiccup, the rider of said Night Fury, was currently riding the dragon as they flew far west.

Headstrong, Toothless' midnight black wings cut through the skies with ease. Feeling that grand sense of true freedom in his powerful body, he let out an echoing, fierce, blood-curdling roar. Critters scurried to hide within their dens and homes, and the most lethal of predators cowered.

"Aww… Play nice, Bud!" Hiccup laughed.

Play nice? Toothless mentally repeated, with a snort, bemused. I am the King of DRAGONS! I do as I please!

Even if Hiccup couldn't hear his dragon's words or thoughts, Hiccup got the idea, chuckled, and lightly smacked the thick neck in front of him. "Don't you get cocky, Mr. Night Fury," the Chief teased, leading his dragon to a steep glide over the ocean.

"Seriously, though, do you actually know any other Night Furies?"

Toothless did; but he stayed silent, and pretended, for both of their sakes, to not be aware of such a statement.

Getting the message, Hiccup silently nodded, and they pushed onward.

_X-x-X_

Alright, I'm done. When are we landing? Toothless grumbled, looking up at his tired rider. The young man patted the scaly neck before him. He gently steered him down towards the island below, towards an open field next to the forest.

Dragon landed, and rider slipped off, unbuckling the straps that kept him to the saddle.

Toothless followed as his companion went to find a camping spot for the night. As he peered out at the landscape from on top of a hill, Toothless padded to the forest outskirts to gather firewood. Using his strong and vicious jaws, he tore out young, dark barked saplings from the damp soil, huffing at one or two that required some extra tugging, and he walked back with them between his sharp teeth.

Soon, they were laid in a cosy clearing within the forest, surrounded by a group of tall pine trees, and with a soft snort of acknowledgement, Toothless lifted his head from where it had been resting on the ground, and he fired a bright blue Plasma Blast at their stack of firewood, setting it warmly alight.

Hiccup sighed deeply, and stroked around and on his ear appendages, murmuring. "Thanks, Bud…"

Turning his head up to gaze at the full moon, high in the night sky among twinkling stars, the young Chief and his Alpha were silent. Toothless wasn't sure what to think, so quiet and patient, deep in his thoughts, he simply watched his best buddy.

Soon, they had eaten their silver, fishy dinner, and had gone to sleep. Only, well, Toothless found he couldn't.

He remembered this island… The island where his brother had died.

_X-x-X_

"Where are you taking me…? Bud?"

Toothless didn't pay much heed to his rider's queries.

Understandably, the human didn't understand the Night Fury's actions as he led him towards an unknown location.

Trusting his soul-mate, Hiccup allowed his first and best friend to take leads.

How is he going to take this…? Toothless wondered, his gaze fixated on the land beyond. Oh, well… Too late to turn back now… I guess… Well, what's the worst that could happen? I mean, I guess… He paused. Yeah, that's not a very happy thought… Find a happy place, Toothless... Find it and hide in it…

As the dragon flew towards that canyon, where everything had changed, where he had lost the only kin he had ever known, where Darkflame had taken his last breath on that traumatising, fateful night, he thought back gravely.

Even if it had been many, countless moons ago, Toothless could still remember almost everything about Darkflame- his silly, loyal, bold, kind yet fierce and adventurous personality, his midnight black scales and how they shimmered in the moonlight, how those sparkling sapphire eyes keenly watched everything and more. The dragon had been the only family the dragon had ever known- not even his parents, and Darkflame, for whatever reason, had never even mentioned them to him before.

If the dragon was perhaps still alive, maybe he wouldn't have met Hiccup, or stumbled, alone and wounded, into the tyrannical clutches of the Red Death, the 'False Queen', and eventually, be the one alongside his rider to save Berk's dragons, and slay her.

So, maybe it was for the better that Darkflame had passed away… Although, honestly, he really and truly would have preferred his brother alive. Not dead.

"Uh… Toothless…?" Hiccup drawled out quietly, his body trembling with nervous tremors, his hands shaky as they clutched the reigns.

The ebony dragon looked up, and upon laying his eyes on the large shape laying still on the bottom of the rocky canyon, he inhaled sharply.

He hadn't ever considered that the skeleton of his deceased brother would bring him, the almighty Alpha, king of dragons and the Night Fury of Hiccup, whom was the Chief of Berk, and perhaps the most legendary dragon of his time, would bring him to this…

Toothless hadn't ever thought it would nearly bring him to tears.

_X-x-X_

"Th-tha… that's a… a N… Night Fu-Fury!" Hiccup stammered out, shocked, slack-jawed, wide-eyed, staring at the massive skeleton.

Ever so slowly, Toothless silently landed, ear-plates pressed flat against his neck.

While not exactly the same, the corpse was clearly of Toothless' mysterious species; almost as large as Toothless was in the current day.

The dragon wanted to look away, he really did. But he couldn't. His eyes simply couldn't move off his older dead brother's skeleton, the bones white and stark against the dark, grey stone of the canyon. And it hurt, to see the real-life image of so many of his youthful nightmares, where he had suffered, without anyone to console in.

A heavy, terrible weight had sunken in his chest, making it hurt, a siren going off in his head that pained his ears, a lump having risen in his throat. He felt nauseous, wobbly, uneasy, his mind and heart feeling like they were torn in two.

His limbs were threatening to give out under him, and tremors shook his body violently. His green eyes became watery and wide pupiled. Toothless struggled to meet his rider's gaze, which slightly stunned, but understanding and sympathetic. Hiccup's eyes were even pricked by a few of his own tears. And then, Toothless couldn't help it- and things such as being an Alpha or not, a Night Fury or not, no longer mattering.

He let out a guttural wail, and his head crashed right into Hiccup's already wide open arms.

The dragon crumbled to his shaking knees, head pressed against his rider's chest, as Hiccup embraced him tightly, whispering words of reassurance and apology- everything Toothless had never had, when the tragedy had first occurred.

"I'm sorry… I'm s… So, so sorry… I lo… love you… T… Toothless… I love you so, so much…"

I love you too, my Little One… I love you, my brother… My Little One… And I'll love you, protect you, be there for you, until my dying breath… I'll protect you to my final hour, just like Darkflame did once for me…

Toothless gave a sniffing sound, slowly easing down to lay still, Hiccup then kneeling by his head that rested in his lap, arms still around him.

The dragon's grief slowly but surely quelled to something more of a dull ache in his heart, stitched up because of the one whom he loved equally as much as his real brother- the brother of friendship that he loved, who was now there for him, comforting him and helping to heal the rift which had torn back open at the sight of Darkflame's corpse.

Toothless sighed deeply after a while, shuddered, and turned to stare into the empty eye sockets of Darkflame's skull, longing to see those sapphire orbs once more, and knowing he never would.

He silently nuzzled his precious rider, who did likewise, and they both sadly, silently, solemnly stared into the dead eyes of a Night Fury's skull.

_X-x-X_

Author's Note (A/N):

Hello, my lovely Dragonites! How has it been? It's been a bit chaotic for me lately, but yes, I am still alive and lovin' my dragons. Thankfully, however, eight weeks of pure holiday are coming up in a week's time, so maybe I'll be able to swing back into writing again for some actual quality stuff. It does quite sadden me to see how few of my old readers have stopped reviewing, or even reading- what's going on with the fandom? I don't want to say it, but it feels like it's almost… Yeah. You get it. So, any of my old buddies, if you're reading this, you can thank my good pal NatBlake for encouraging me to keep writing! :D

So, yeah. Not that proud of this thing- and it was originally meant to be a Drabble… Oh well. It was finished ages ago, in my little Drabble/One-Shot book I have here- and now that I look, it was officially finished on the 12/08 this year, actually…

Whoops. Oh well. It's done now.

So, what did I mean about it being 'Adoptable Plot Bunny'?

Well, I feel like there's more to this little tale. Maybe a prequel about Toothless and his brother, or what happened with his parents.

So, if there are any aspiring or plot-bunny-less writers out there who want to give ol' Toothy some past and lore behind his awesomeness, feel free to let me know what you have in mind, and you can base your fanfic on this!

All I ask is that it is made from K to T rated, so a wide ranged audience- including myself- can read it, and that you keep me updated with its progress, and show me the draft first. Gotta make Darkflame proud, you know! ;)

Well, until next time, my dearies! DRAGONITES UNITE!

-Crystallion12