You Bleed Just To Know You're Alive || Hiccup

[Hiccup Haddock]

The moment of silence and shock that was created by such a trip was so very tense. Both of them looked at one another, breath frozen and body poised.. it was the most intense feeling he had ever felt, and Toothless had felt judging by his friends reaction. This continued for several more minutes until Hiccup decided to introduce the idea of removing the saddle. Call him stupid or bold, perhaps even both, Hiccup extended his arms towards the saddle, with each inch he shifted his hands closer, Hiccup would pause and would wait. This was Toothless's call after all.. Truth be told.. Hiccup felt nervous.. hesitant almost; This was a big step for the both of them, and he had no idea how it would turn out, or how far his friend would let him go.

He had gotten so far, when Toothless gave him a low growl. His tail lashed out towards the ground.. and Hiccup was thankful at that moment that there was some space between him and the tail, or he could picture himself with various bruises. Just like before, Hiccup knew exactly what was going on, Toothless was wary and protective over the fact that Hiccup made a move towards his back. For a being to ride a dragon it took a great deal of trust and acceptance. None of which at that moment Toothless had, Hiccup knew that he'd have to earn that trust all over again, and mend that broken bridge and he was ready for it.

After a moment, frozen in place Hiccup noticed that one obvious sign.. the dilation of Toothless's eyes coupled with the brief movement of his ears.. although he was anything but relaxed he was.. willing. The gentle sound of his friend humming made it all that much more clearer. Nodding Hiccup sucked in another breath.. then quickly and expertly Hiccup reached the straps and undid each of them with practiced motions. Before Toothless could even notice, Hiccup had whipped of the saddle and stepped a few steps backwards. Clutching the rather worn looking saddle close to his chest. Suddenly a grin erupted upon his face.. they had done it.. they had reached yet another step and together at that. It was moments like this, that Hiccup enjoyed.. testing the boundaries and strengthening their bond all the while.

With that Hiccup remained where he stood, leaving the personal space that surrounded his friend to give Toothless that room. Although Hiccup wanted nothing more at that moment other than to scratch his friend in all the right places. Hiccup contained himself. Allowing Toothless that time, Hiccup used the chance to examine the saddle against him.. it was certainly smaller.. perhaps the size of his torso if not a bit longer, whereas before it had very nearly been the entire length of him. With another sigh, Hiccup realized it was yet another thing that had changed, and something else he'd have to adjust too. Within his mind's eye he knew that at one point.. hopefully he and Toothless would fly again together, but until that came. Hiccup knew he'd had to adjust the saddle a great deal, especially to accompany his size..

With that said, Hiccup cast his gaze to the tail that he had made his friend.. it hindered him and grounded him. That was something Hiccup didn't want.. Toothless needed to fly, that was in his blood and who he was.. and if Toothless wouldn't fly with him, then Hiccup would have to come up with an alternative. Then. maybe.. just maybe when the time was right they could fly together again like old times.

[Toothless]

As soon as that saddle lifted and Toothless heard Hiccup step back, the dragon suddenly rushed foreword, not to get away from Hiccup per say, but to move out of the way enough so he could flop on to his back and start rolling without smacking his friend in the face.

At first it was for the sake of scratching, scales almost throbbing now against the clear air around him, rolling his back and sides into the dirt roughly. However, it soon became something that he did just for the joy of it, the soft grass tickling him. He made happy sounds deep within his throat in pleasure, rolling from left to right in a rocking motion. He eventually came to a complete stop, lying on his side which was moving up and down steadily, stretched out and looking over at Hiccup from where he still lay on the grass.

It occurred to him then that he had let Hiccup come close enough to take off his saddle. Toothless swelled a little in pride, rubbing his cheek against the grass. And he liked seeing Hiccup's grin! It was a much better expression than the awful sadness that he had seen on the other while he was sitting by the lake.

Toothless paused when he realized that his friend was gazing at the saddle, an expression in his eye that Toothless recognized. It was the expression of thought, something Hiccup wore when he was usually staring at the papers on his desk and trying to improve a design of that or come up with a better piece for this. Rolling on to his stomach, grass still sticking to some of the Night Fury's back, Toothless tilted his head and looked on curiously. Usually Toothless would curl up and watch Hiccup as he did his thing, watching the other's mannerisms with idle amusement. That was the time that Toothless would nap, knowing Hiccup was far too focused within his own thoughts to ramble to him about what he was doing, which was fine by him really.

The only time Toothless got interested or curious was when Hiccup's thoughtful gaze and charcoal pencil involved his saddle. He sat up, making a soft yipping sound to try and get the boys attention now. Hiccup had been looking at the saddle for quite a while by then, and Toothless wanted to know what the thinking gaze was for.

And he would be lying if he said his heart didn't begin to race and his blood began to burn. That saddle was the ultimate symbol of his and Hiccup's friendship. Besides Hiccup, that saddle meant everything to him. It gave him his freedom. That saddle gave him his flight. And flying was what Toothless was designed for. Flying was what Toothless lived for. The memories of flying brought such an excited rush to him, the memories of touching the sky and feeling the vapor of the clouds and caress of the wind filled him with such longing.

But it wasn't just the flying that Toothless loved. It was the flying with his friend, in sharing that feeling of freedom, and sharing that exhiliration and that joy. The memories of flying with Hiccup that now came to him were suddenly breaking his heart. Green eyes turned to the sky now, and Toothless flapped his tingling and restless wings, disturbing some of the ripped up grass that he had accidentally torn from the ground in his vigor. When he settled down it was with a pitiful whine, his ears flattening.

How long had it been now? Two days? Two days without even a short five minute flight? Toothless grumbled a little. Toothless could hardly last one before he would start to go stir crazy on Berk, and he was sure that there would be no exception here; no matter how much bigger his home at the lake was compared to Hiccup's house.[/size]

[Hiccup Haddock]

Whilst clutching the saddle, Hiccup watched as Toothless made a direct move towards a pile of dirt, before dropping like a fly and rolling around. As his friend turned this way and that, Hiccup felt guilty over the fact that he hadn't removed it sooner, it was clear that the saddle had been bothering his friend for some time, judging by the small amount of discoloration of scales upon Toothless's back. Of course.. Dragon's weren't designed for saddles or riders.. so it annoyed Hiccup that he had assumed that Toothless would be fine with it, why had he not done something about it before?

Listening to Toothless as he rolled around, Hiccup turned his attention towards the saddle, against him was a lot smaller than he remembered but at the same time, it was also fairly big for Toothless to carry around day after day. Yes, alterations would definitely have to be made. Racking his brain for idea's Hiccup tried to bring out the design of Toothless's saddle.. the one that apparently Toothless had had, and one that he had some how made. The question was.. how had he made it? With a sigh he frowned his brown and took a seat on the plush grass, with his legs crossed beneath him, Hiccup pulled out his book. The book that never left his side.. and begun to tap the paper with his pen.

Whilst he thought, his chin rested upon his hand.. just then he heard the soft sound of Toothless calling too him. Glancing up he looked over towards his friend whom seemed intrigued by the sudden thoughtful gaze Hiccup held on the saddle. As he watched Toothless, he could see the longing in his friends gaze as it turned towards the sky, he could see his need for flight in the way he flapped his wings. This triggered yet more thought chains.. who knew how long it would be until they flew together? with their trouble bond and thin trust.. Hiccup had no idea how long that would take to mend.. so alternatives would have to be made.

Toothless needed to fly, one way or another. "Don't worry bud.. I'll think of something." he commented as he glared at the paper before him, glancing between book and saddle.. before he knew it his hand begun to sketch. First and foremost the saddle needed to be smaller and lighter, so that it would feel like there wasn't a saddle. If Hiccup had it his way, then he would of gladly left Toothless without one, yet the fact of his tail.. and Hiccups leg, along with his record of falling.. a saddle was really kind of needed.

As his hand danced across the page, his eyes widened. Ideas filled him as he drew the new saddle design. It barely took more than half an hour before he looked down at the final design and nodded. Yes.. he knew this would work. Looking up towards Toothless whom had been watching him for the past half hour. Hiccup turned his book around to show his friend. "What do you think? It's going to be lighter and smaller, you'd barely even know that you have it on your back.. it's also going to have air holes so that you don't get to hot under it." He grinned then, proudly.

After that, Hiccup lowered his book and spoke further, remembering something."Well bud.. I know it's going to be some time till you let me ride you again.. so I have an idea.. Ive been working on something.. the last two days.. a new tail, one that you won't need me for. That way you can fly on your own.. maybe you won't even need a saddle." Hiccup commented, somewhat disheartened by the fact that he may well never fly with his friend. Placing the book and pen down, Hiccup reached for the satchel, reaching into the bag in a separate pocket; Hiccup pulled out a long item wrapped in cloth. Placing it down in front of him, he unraveled it and reveled a tail piece. Looking up to Toothless he spoke. "It's only a prototype.. I just wanted to see if it actually worked.. maybe then I can adjust it?" He offered, although made no move towards him.

[Toothless]

Well, there he went, doing that thing he did with the book and the pen that he always carried around with him. It was familiar and refreshing, and as Toothless shuffled closer to Hiccup now, it was fascinating. Of course, watching the other move and create with his hands had always been fascinating to the Night Fury. When he had gotten as close as he dared, which was just within touching distance, the dragon curled his legs up underneath him and settled on the ground. He purred once, but otherwise tilted his head and remained silent so as not to disturb Hiccup while he was on a roll.

Oh, and he was most certainly on a roll! Toothless knew it because of the way the pen flew across the page and by the ever changing expressions on his friends face. Toothless lowered his head to his paws, ears alert and his gaze intrigued, watching and waiting patiently to see what Hiccup's 'something' was that he was going to come up with. It was a ritual that he was used too; Toothless watching and keeping silent company while Hiccup worked on that little book.

Finally Hiccup seemed satisfied with the end result and turned the pages around for the dragon to see. Toothless lifted his head and his greens eyes searched the page, trying to make out all the little notes while at the same time admiring the drawing (and maybe even Hiccup's artistic skill). His brows lifted when he realized it was a new saddle design, and he made a soft grumbling sound before stretching his neck closer. It was smaller, more compact, yet still so streamline and intracite. Toothless' tail thumped against the ground and he warbled in an excited way, now looking around the book and at Hiccup. And the holes to keep from getting so hot and from being lightweight enough to keep from feeling scratchy was always a great idea!

Plus Hiccup looked so proud. That was different from the Hiccup Toothless used to know, who was always used to getting scorn for his ideas or for his inventions to fail. Yet, Toothless found he liked this change. The dragon knocked his nose into the book before shaking his head and pulling back, an obvious Toothless seal of approval. He was always proud of what his friend could make, even if those things did go wrong or were scorned, and Toothless thought that it was about time Hiccup felt proud of them too.

Then Hiccup was moving on, and suddenly there was a note of seriousness in the other's voice that made the dragon lock eyes with him. His ears started to fall as he listened to Hiccup speak, muscles becoming tense as those hands started to move to his satchel. They immediately attracted his attention, and his nostrils started to flare a bit in a mixture of curiosity and alarm. Hiccup pulled out a long item wrapped in clothe and started to undo it, and at first Toothless shifted his weight back and crouched as if he was prepared to get out of the way of a weapon of some kind. His heart began to race as Hiccup talked of flying and a new tail, his whole body suddenly coming alive, and yet...

Toothless leaned down to sniff the item once the last of the clothe fell away, a gentle growl on his lips. The idea of touching the sky again was making his scales feel itchy again, and his wings began to uncurl from his body in reflex. Hiccup was going to give him this so he could fly if he wanted too! That was the best gift he could ever ask for! Yet, the idea of Hiccup not flying with him dampened his excitement and joy. It almost felt... wrong to have Hiccup giving up that. They were supposed to fly together.

Green eyes looked up and met Hiccup's again, conflicted. For a moment there was silence as Toothless stared, before the dragon's ears flattened completely and he took a step back from Hiccup. To have such a choice presented in front of him was troturous. Toothless wanted to fly with Hiccup, loved sharing in that bond and feeling so close to him, loved feeling their special connection that went so much deeper than any of those other teens on Berk and their own dragons. Of course, that was also before Hiccup had changed. Now that special connection was gone, wasn't it? And the sky was so taunting as it beckoned him to come...

Toothless took another step backwards before stilling, eyes going back down to the tail piece that was on the ground. Then Hiccup said something that filled him with heat. Toothless hissed, eyes shooting up to pin Hiccup's in a threatening way, lowering his head closer to the ground. "Toothless needs saddle!"[/b] He would always need his saddle, because, even if their bond was not restored enough now, Toothless would only fly with Hiccup. Toothless wanted to only fly with Hiccup. Even if Hiccup gave him this new tail and Toothless could fly on his own, Toothless would always come back to Hiccup and want to fly with him.

Flying was important to him, but it no longer defined him in the way that Hiccup did now.[/font][/size]

[Hiccup Haddock]

Having shown Toothless his design he was pleased to see that his friend approved after all, where many would make saddle to suit them, Hiccup preferred to make a saddle that best suited Toothless, and then suited him second. Given the choice Hiccup would of rather not put a saddle back on his friend, the only reason it was needed was so Hiccup could stay more secure, and so that he could help Toothless fly. That reason alone was what triggered Hiccup with the idea of making his friend a retractable tail that he could use on his own, without assistance. Besides, Toothless still didn't trust him well enough to allow Hiccup to fly with him. Hiccup watched as Toothless gave his design a seal of approval, at which point Hiccup's grin widened he was proud of it, pleased that it looked so good and more so over the fact that Toothless liked it. Lowering the book to place it beside him, Hiccup than got out his prototype tail.

When the item was revealed he could see Toothless unsure about it, it was different after all and it was a new tail, something that was incredibly important to the dragon who had grown proud of his red tail with the white skull in the middle which symbolized the Hairy Hooligan tribe. Seeing Toothless's questioning and unsure look Hiccup, remained sitting. "It's not THAT bad.. you could fly on your own.. I was up most of the night making it, I know how you want to fly.. and because I can't fly with you yet.. I made it for you, I promise you that you will like it." Hiccup stated as he waited to see if Toothless would allow him to put it on. Hiccup could see Toothless thinking about it, he knew that it was going to be hard on the dragon to make such a choice, but it was the best Hiccup could offer him.

Just then Toothless hissed, as he growled about wanting the saddle.. this news surprised Hiccup.. Toothless still wanted to fly with him? Hiccup had thought that because he had changed, Toothless wouldn't want to, that it wouldn't be the same, whereas Hiccup had wanted nothing more than to fly with his best friend again, but Hiccup was willing to give that all up if it meant Toothless would be happy, and that Toothless would fly. Pausing, Hiccup looked to his friend in shock.. Slowly, a smile erupted across Hiccup's face, Toothless wanted to still fly with him! Grinning now Hiccup spoke "Okay, okay! then I'll make us the new saddle? but for now.. until things are back to normal.. I want to give you this." He gestured to the tail piece that he held within his hand, he wanted Toothless to fly. A grounded dragon was a dead dragon, and more so than that, Hiccup believed that dragons needed their freedom, and being stuck on the ground was like putting a bird in a cage

Waiting for a moment, Hiccup nodded as he tried to tell Toothless that it would be okay, they would fly again some day, as soon as their bond and that trust on Toothless's side was mended. Hiccup was not about to climb on his friends back, no; Toothless had to be ready as well. "So, what do you say bud?" Hiccup questioned, as he then inched a fraction towards Toothless's tail. "I'll keep this tail you got on if you want me too? then we can fly together at some point?" he offered, when Toothless, showed no signs of out rightly rejecting the idea, Hiccup continued on making his way towards his friends tail, watching Toothless as he did so. His friend would tell him when to stop, or if it was alright to carry on.

[/size]

[Toothless]

Hard emerald eyes did not relent as Hiccup looked up at him, seeing and sensing the shock within his friend and rising up to meet it. He would not fight Hiccup on this issue, leering as if he could force Hiccup to agree with him with that alone. He only relaxed when a smile started to stretch across his friends face, and Toothless felt something inside of him start to loosen, and he let out a slow breath. He had been nervous, nervous about Hiccup disagreeing with him, nervous about hearing hurt in his friends voice or seeing it on his face. Fear of being rejected himself, because demanding his saddle was a little like putting himself out in the open. Toothless relaxed and shook his head a little, that smile coming back to his eyes now.

And excitement too! Hiccup was going to making them a new saddle! A better one! Even if Toothless wasn't sure he would be ready for flying with the other yet, what the saddle meant and what it could bring still made his heart start beating quicker and brought a little glow to his eyes.

Now this new tail piece didn't seem so final, didn't feel like Hiccup was giving up something. Toothless looked down at it now with a new light, that excitement becoming thick, his heart practically aching. He could fly with that... Toothless stepped foreword to sniff it again, his phsyically trembling. Instead of feeling like a dead weight now, this new tail was starting to feel like a gift. Hiccup had made this for him, knowing that Toothless wanted and needed to fly, cared about his welfare enough to design something that would let him fly without him. Hiccup was actually willing to sacrifice that bond for the sake of what Toothless needed... it was almost enough to take the dragon's breath away.

Hiccup started to move while the dragon was lost in his thoughts, and it was the others movement that brought him back into focus. Toothless watched him, ears up and listening to him, all the while feeling as if his heart was full to the point of bursting. It bubbled forth, happiness covering him like a warm spring rain, becoming a physical sound of the same kind of happiness once it came up his throat and passed his lips.

Suddenly he jerked his tail out of Hiccup's reach. Toothless narrowed his eyes playfully and jerked it again when Hiccup got closer. Just like the first time Hiccup had given him his new tail. The urge to fly was strong in his heart, and his wings ached to beat in sync with it, but not yet... not when he was suddenly faced with the strength of how much Hiccup cared about him. Toothless had always known but in the face of this new tail it was almost too much to bare all at once.

How could he ever repay him for something like that?

Another attempt and Toothless swung his tail completely out of reach, taking a couple steps around Hiccup in a small circle. And then he paused and waited, eyes never leaving Hiccup, playful and bright and eager for the boy to try again.[/size]