Following his father's death Hiccup is determined to do Stoick proud and fill his shoes in Berk. And he does... by slowly chipping away at himself. Sensitive Toothless knows his boy is getting lost but that's not the only troubling thing happening...
Hiccup wished he was in a dream. He wished that when he opened his eyes it would all go away.
He held his breath, trying desperately to keep his heart rate down. One eyelid cranked upwards and the Viking was rewarded a sight that haunted his worst nightmares.
Thirty feet away, blocking the entrance of the cave was a Skullion. Not just any Skullion no, it was his friend from the beach yesterday who had waited so tirelessly through the night at the foot of the peninsula, missing out on the limpet buffet everyone else indulged in.
This particular old Skullion had seen (and tasted) his share of humans, and unfortunately for Hiccup humans have a much better flavor than limpets so the dragon hadn't quit yet.
By some miracle he hadn't caught Hiccup's scent- perhaps the stench of Dragonsbreath was still too strong in his sensitive nostrils.
Both eyes open as wide as possible the Viking very, very slowly, reached for the knife and moved to an upright position. Ugly Mug -as Hiccup unconsciously named him- was too interested in the dripping water to feel anything so slight... but something was coming. Something, ticklish. Something squinty. Something, though try as he might, Hiccup could not hold back.
...
Huh...
HUH...
HHUHH... CHOO!
The dragon reared up.
An involuntary shriek left Hiccup's lips and he bolted out the cave! The Skullion lashed toward him, only missing the Chief's neck with that sickle claw by a hairsbreadth.
Pounding through Dragonsbreath the Viking rose a riotous stench in his wake, easily followed by his pursuer.
RRroooaooaarrr!
Out of nowhere another Skullion butt-into the chase; this one female with face half dead and the head of an axe buried in her skull, healed-over. She didn't snarl at Ugly (for a deaf dragon heeds no snarl) but bit into his shoulder to try and shake him from the prey. They got to pushing each other around.
"Whoa!"
Not watching where he was going Hiccup dropped fifteen feet into a ditch, a sickening crunch of bones meeting him at the ground.
Oh. Wait. Not my bones.
"Grug," the Viking said, feeling sorry for the skull sporting a helmet missing both horns. Weirdly enough it held the same melancholy expression. "Aww, man. I was rooting for you."
