Dancing Scales

Chapter Three

Hiccup's P.O.V:

I paced along outside my house. What to do, what to do....

I looked to Toothless, who, after coming outside, hadn't moved at all for the last week. He had barely eaten, barely slept, something was wrong! He hadn't even burnt the grass when he first sat down!

I walked over to him and scratched behind his ear, earning almost no reaction. He glanced towards me, then looked back at the faint, half-full moon that was floating in the light blue beyond.

"Come on, bud," I pleaded. "You've gotta do something."

He didn't even move at all.

I sighed, worry etched into my face.

"Any luck?"

I turned around to see Fishlegs, who was also concerned about Toothless. There wasn't a soul in the entirety of Berk who hadn't heard and tried to help, but he had offered the most advice.

"No," I said. "Did you find anything in your books today, Fishlegs?"

"No," he sighed, but looked like he had more to say. I waited for him to continue. After a moment, he did.

He said "We know so little about the furies, Hiccup. At first, I thought that, maybe, he could be deficient in some important mineral or something, but it's too severe. Maybe.... I don't know...."

He stopped, and I urged him on. "And?"

"Well, he might miss his freedom, Hiccup. He's depressed, we know that much. It's either that, or.... well, we haven't been around dragons for too long. We don't really know what ails them, what sicknesses they can get...."

I sucked in a breath out of shock. "Fishlegs, y-you can't be saying that- you can't mean that you think he might be....?"

"I don't know, Hiccup," he sighed. "All we know is that it's serious, so just be prepared for the worst, okay? For all we know, he could recover, but...."

He walked away, leaving me to my thoughts. I looked to my dragon.

My best friend.

My family.

My, well.... my bud.

"Please get well soon, Toothless," I whispered, sitting down beside him and starting to rub his head.

As if sensing how I felt, he began to purr. It was weak, and broken up, but.... it gave me hope.

~~}•{~~

Dancer's P.O.V:

I flew over the plains, holding Showman in my front paws. My wings pushed me ahead at high speeds, I was very eager to leave the large island.

Why, you may ask? Rolling plains, mountains in the distance, a clear view of the sky, rich coasts, they were all there. It would have been a good place to stay for a while, if not for one other thing that was there.

I sighed, looking over my shoulder, as the whispering deaths faded into the background. I was very glad that they couldn't keep up with me.

I thought that whispering deaths were nice, as most dragons were. You just had to get through their territorial side, which was near impossible. I had never managed that feat.

"Well," Showman said, "that island was a bust."

"Dude, that's obvious," I told him.

We continued flying, headed Northwest, and I caught us some fish for breakfast.

~~}•{~~

We had been flying for many hours when we reached another island. It had forests, cliffs, mountains, and fresh water, but I was not going to land there. On one side of the island were the remains of several huts. Huts were made by vikings, and any sign of vikings was bad new. Without waiting for Showman to say anything, I turned Southwest and started picking up speed.

~~}•{~~

I had been flying for over a day, and my wings were very tired. Even if I had learned to sleep while in the air (A/N: I got this inspiration from turkey vultures, lol. How do they stay up there for so long?! Air currents, I believe.), my muscles hadn't gotten any rest the entire trip, other than a few dips into the ocean below.

Finally, finally, I spotted land. It put a boost in my mind, and I managed to pick up my slow - for me - pace.

In no time at all, I was landing on the island, but I made sure to fly through a blast before coming near. I wasn't going to fly around and look for danger, so I wanted to stay as well-hidden as possible.

"Hooray! I can stretch!" Showman yipped, hopping off of my head.

I snorted, "You could have flown around, you know."

"I meant legs," he muttered, and I shook my head.

"Would you go around the island and make sure that there are no hostile dragons here, Showman?" I asked after he had settled down. "I want to go for a walk, but I don't want to have to make my way around the entire perimeter."

"Sure, let's meet up back here at sunset, okay?" he said. "Shoot a signal if you need me."

I smiled, "Yeah, you do, too, ya pewny little half-pint."

After a few protesting grumbles, he flew off into the trees, and I set along my way.

I trotted through the tall evergreens, just looking around. It was quite the nice little island.

Eventually, I came across two intertwined scent trails. The first scent was dragon, probably nadder, but I knew the second one for sure. Viking.

My nostrils flared, and I jumped back. It was old, maybe two weeks, at most, but I was wary. What was a viking doing with a dragon?

I didn't see any scorch mark, so they must not have been hostile to each other. I wandered away from the scent trail, some things were best left uninvestigated, and continued my walk.

A/N: What did you think? Did you like it? What is the island? Every httyd fan knows it! I hope that you enjoyed reading, and thanks!