HTTYD Fic SPOILERZZZZZZZZZZ

                                                   Running

Hiccup was tired. It was evident in the way he laid heavily on Toothless' neck and barely paid attention to his directing of his companion's tail. Not that it really mattered, they were flying gently and Hiccup could navigate Toothless now in his sleep.

The brown haired boy sighed and traced little circles into Toothless' neck as he turned his head to lay his cheek against the warm scales. He looked out over the beautiful landscape and gave a little grin at the sparkling water and the green trees and the elegant looking rocks. The sky was also turning down for the night, and the sun casted a beautiful shadow over the area and the sky was a gorgeous symphony of reds, pinks, oranges and purples.

He knew that they needed to head back before it got too dark, or his dad would worry.  Hiccup sighed and closed his eyes. Three months. It's been three months since he found Toothless (sort of), three months since they killed the evil dragon, and three months…since he lost his foot.

His green eyes opened and glanced down at his substitute foot. He had made changes, like he promised, and now it was a little more effective and his walk was a little less unstable and he could almost walk like normal again. He subconsciously felt Toothless change directions, obviously heading back to the island. Hiccup thought back to when he first saw his lack of foot. In the inside, he was upset, and he was screaming, but he forced himself to be calm and not scare the obviously happy Toothless that was prancing around his house.

He put on a happy front whenever people asked about his foot, and it wasn't that hard because he WAS happy, happy that Toothless was with him, that the dragons and Vikings were living peacefully, and happy that people finally accepted him. Especially Astrid.

But it was hard. Toothless, if he could talk, could tell you that. After their first peaceful fly with the group of teenagers and their dragons, Hiccup had forgotten about his foot and roughly stepped off Toothless, causing his leg to hurt horribly. He had to shove his face into Toothless' neck to stop the screaming he so wanted to let loose. The black dragon had been surprised, and he could feel the pain radiating from his human in waves, so he brought his tail up and wrapped it around Hiccup and gently supported him so the brunette could cry without worrying about falling.

Then for the next few weeks, life was hard. He managed to hide his pain from the others, because he knew that they would worry, (or think he was a wimp), so only Toothless saw his pain. He and Toothless would work hard to get used to the leg, and would go flying for hours and then go to their trench and work on the foot and getting used to walking. Toothless was always right there though, catching him when he fell and supporting him when he was tired. But what Hiccup was most grateful for, was the shoulder that Toothless would let him cry on.

Hiccup ended up crying multiple times those weeks, and Toothless was the unwavering foundation he could release his pain to without being judged, without having to worry about holding it in. Toothless just comforted him and let him cry. It made life so much easier.

Hiccup was forced out of his reverie when Toothless skillfully landed in a grass clearing. The black dragon turned his head slightly so one of his big green eyes could observe the human on his back with his usual puppy like expression. Hiccup gave him a smile and carefully stepped off the dragon, unhooking himself in one fluid motion. He sighed and slumped down on the ground and the dragon mimicked the action with a rumble.

The boy leaned against the dragon and the Night Fury blinked at him innocently, causing Hiccup to grin. "Ya know…we should probably be heading back." The black dragon snorted and laid his head on the ground, still watching the boy with a mischievous expression, causing the green eyed boy to chuckle slightly.  

His eyes glanced over their surroundings and noticed many creatures running around, preparing to settle down for the night, or just waking up. The one thing he really noticed though was the running. He felt a ball of sadness envelope his heart for a bit before he pushed it down to a slight ping. If there was one thing he missed, it was running.

He used to run all the time, to escape dragons, escape people, and escape Toothless when he was feeling particularly playful. Now, he couldn't. If he tried, he'd probably fall face first into the dirt and his pride would be more injured then he would be. Hiccup sighed slightly and felt his tiredness come back.

"Hey Toothless…" He said quietly and the dragon's unique ears pointed towards him, a gesture that he was listening. "Remember when I used to run all the time?"

Toothless rumbled slightly and flickered his ears towards his human, tilting his head slightly. He contemplated the emotions falling off the human and the expression on his face. He could feel sadness and longing when he said "running", but he could also feel acceptance as well. The dragon rumbled and suddenly stood up, taking Hiccup by surprise. Toothless hopped around and indicated for Hiccup to get on his back.

"What? Oh, you wanna head back now? Okay." Hiccup said, clamoring onto his friend's back and hooked himself back up again. "Alright, I'm ready."

So Toothless took off, but not in the way Hiccup was expecting.

He was running.

Hiccup let out a gasp and grabbed hold of Toothless' neck in surprise. Of course a dragon ran much faster than a human, and Hiccup started to reveal in the harsh way the wind swarmed around him, and the whistling sound filling his ears. Slowly he began to let go and Toothless slowed down, to a speed Hiccup knew was the normal human speed. Hiccup loved the feel of the unique way his hair flew around him and the rocking that he knew wasn't normal for a human, but it still felt like running.

And it still felt like it was him who was running.

He closed his eyes and imagined. He was running through a field, and the soil and grass beneath his feet was soft and bounced slightly, sending him forward which each step he took. His arms were going up and down with fast, choppy movements, fueling his running and making him go faster. The sun was bouncing off him gently, and the grass swayed behind him from his speed. And Toothless was running beside him, making happy rumbling sounds and prancing around the boy happily.

Before Hiccup knew it, his arms were pumping with the beat of Toothless' gait and the dragon speed up, almost like when Hiccup would go faster when his arms pumped more viciously. Hiccup let out a laugh and opened his eyes to see the world flashing by in blurs of colors and he closed them again, revealing in the feeling of running.

But then suddenly, it stopped. Hiccup jerked and opened his eyes and saw that Hiccup stopped on a little hill overlooking the village. Toothless was letting out low, deep breaths, showing evidence that he had been running hard. Hiccup was breathing hard too, his open mouth inhaling and exhaling quickly, a slight curl in his lips showing that he was happy. There were little tear trails down his cheeks and his eyes were open with awe and happiness shining in their green pools.

He took a deep breath, wiped his face and hugged Toothless tightly around the neck. "Thank you…" Toothless merely rumbled happily and began to walk down towards the village.