[♛𝕟𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖♛]

I AM A FOREST OF

DARKNESS, WITH SHADOWS FOR LEAVES

BUT HE WHO IS BRAVE ENOUGH, WILL FIND ROSES UNDER MY CYPRESSES

Kiara hummed, nodding.

"He seems like one to push himself beyond his limits for others. Is there no one on your island that does the same work as he?"

She asked, ruffling her wings again gently, trying to find a comfortable position for the thin, folded flaps.

"Because wouldn't it help if he trained up someone to do his work, so they could work together? Or maybe found someone who was good at what he does, so they can help him out?"

She said, breathing softly. She could see the fatigue on Hiccup's face as he drifted off, and she suspected he had been going for days before being able to settle down. Not to mention that if he was here with her, then obviously something wasn't being done on Berk, or wherever the pair were from. She snapped from her own thoughts as Toothless continued, letting her in on what his rider had planned for the next few days.

"Oh... I suppose that will work, I'll try my best to speed the process along for the two of you."

She said, stubbornly determined. She didn't like keeping the pair from their home any longer than was absolutely necessary, but she really did need help. She sighed, conflicted, and steeled her gaze, binding herself to a silent promise. She would get better quickly, if not entirely for herself, then for the two in front of her working themselves to the bone to help her. And eventually she'd repay them somehow. She was still working on that part.

---

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Hiccup
###
CUUTEEEE

[Hiccup]

The Night Fury's eyes turned to look over his rider's face, leaning his neck in to nose into his fluffy auburn hair, earning a soft mumble from the sleeping man, "all of his people pull their weight, but as the chief, their alpha, he carries the whole village on his shoulders." He rumbled out a soft purr, "I've never encountered another human who could do the things he does with dragons, but you're right, he would benefit from training another to aid him." Another trainer to assist him, it would be one less weight that he felt the need to carry alone, one less worry should the unthinkable happen. He shook that train of thought away, huffing, he hated that thought, it was dark and left a hollow feeling inside. He turned his eyes to her, giving a quirk of his mouth, a small smile, "don't push yourself beyond your comfort too fast." He rested his head down against the cave floor, eyes aiming up to gaze at her, "pushing yourself like that will only assure panic, we'll go at your pace." He nodded, sounding sure in that promise, "Hiccup doesn't want to push you through this too fast" He could tell through her words and actions that she was worried, worried that she was being a burden, that she was causing inconvenience to them, he made a mental note to attempt to reassure her that that wasn't the case, "this is what Hiccup was born to do, if he wasn't helping you, you can bet he would be helping some dragon somewhere." He warbled out an amused laugh at the thought, hoping the words might quell some of her fears. "Hiccup" - "Toothless" ♛𝕟𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖♛

M A I D

[♛𝕟𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖♛]

I AM A FOREST OF

DARKNESS, WITH SHADOWS FOR LEAVES

BUT HE WHO IS BRAVE ENOUGH, WILL FIND ROSES UNDER MY CYPRESSES

The fae chuckled, nodding.

"Still, I figure if you have friends, they worry. And he doesn't seem like the type to tell anyone about where you two are headed."

She snorted, laughing again before curling in on herself closer, trying to get comfortable. She huffed slightly, but soon found a position that was comfortable enough, but allowed them enough room to also be suitably comfortable.

"Anyways, have a nice night. Er, as nice as a night in a cave can be, haha."

She chuckled sleepily, and let her head lay down, completely relaxing her stiff and stressed muscles and letting her consciousness drift off. She was comfortable with the two now, they wouldn't hurt her. Plus, she was fairly certain they were more than wary of her capabilities, from the sounds of their previous skrill encounters. And with as much metal as the two toted around well... they should know not to mess around with lightning.

She was confident she wouldn't be having to show them the full extent of her powers anytime soon. At least, not on them. If the hunters came, however, she'd probably get to show off. Just a little bit though.

The skrill fae was very proud of her abilities, but she only used them when necessary. She knew first hand how destructive her lightning was, and she didn't intend to endanger her new friends, or her temporary home on the isle. She already had left a huge black scar on the opposite side of the small isle, from her previous bout of defending her little home, and she hated the ugly spot she had left behind as a result.

Her frills swished softly, and her consciousness faded, leaving her completely at the mercy of her newfound companions, but not scared at all. She was safe. For now, at least.

-Time skip to next morning!-

Kiara awoke, forgetting that she had company in the cave, and went about her usual routine, standing groggily and raising her wings as best she could, before pushing herself out of the cave with flight, failing to notice the two sleeping in front of her. She had forgotten what happened yesterday almost completely, or, most likely, was too tired to process it, only heading out almost mechanically to find one of the dwindling population of forest animals for breakfast. She caught one quickly, carrying the decently sized animal back to the cave and landing, blinking in surprise when Toothless and Hiccup were found in the entrance. She blinked, memory flooding her mind, and brightened, before dropping the animal to see if they were awake.

"Uhh... I brought food?"

She said, more of a question than a statement, and, after pushing a few logs onto the fire pit they had created the night before with her talons, sparked the wood gently, watching the flames dance to life with a satisfied 'hrrr,' before turning and blinking at her guests.

---

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Hiccup
###
CUUTEEEE

[Hiccup]

Toothless gave a soft rumble of a chuckle in return, nodding, "yes, you're right in that judgement." He shook his head, "it's gotten him into trouble a few times as of late, but they know him well enough to know how he gets, it will be fine." He stretched his jaws in a wide yawn after this, "you're not crowding us, you keep shifting like you are, but we're fine." He eyed her with a sleepy, but amused expression, rumbling out a soft good night before shifting himself to curl further around Hiccup, lending his warmth to the man, and his body as a makeshift cradle, Hiccup shifted in response to lay his head against the dragon's neck, lifting a sleepy hand to pat him before the two both drifted back off into comfortable sleep, both clearly more than used to sleeping like this. -Next Morning- It didn't take Hiccup long to wake up, stirred by the sounds of the larger dragon moving in the cave, and he was naturally an early riser anyway most days. He turned to check on Toothless as he slipped out of the dragon's coiled body, making sure he was still asleep before getting to his feet to stretch, noticing the Skrill gone after a moment, "huh, wonder if she went out to catch breakfast..." He mused to himself, his voice causing Toothless to stir behind him, the black dragon stretched out, his motions much like a cat just waking up, before he plopped down into a sitting position, crooning out to Hiccup, "sleep alright?" He grinned, attention pulled when he heart large footsteps returning. It looked like she'd brought back a large, imposing boar as she dropped it on the cave floor, and Toothless gave an appreciative rumble, "good morning, did you have a good sleep?" He Nudged Hiccup gently to the animal, where he pulled out a small knife, only really big enough to be used as a tool, and cut off a few strips of the meat for himself, leaving the rest to the two dragons so he could cook his own, "thank you, for hunting for us." He knew she wouldn't quite understand, but the gesture would get across anyway, he was sure. "Hiccup" - "Toothless" ♛𝕟𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖♛

M A I D

[♛𝕟𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖♛]

I AM A FOREST OF

DARKNESS, WITH SHADOWS FOR LEAVES

BUT HE WHO IS BRAVE ENOUGH, WILL FIND ROSES UNDER MY CYPRESSES

Kiara blinked at Hiccup warmly, nodding and letting out another 'hrr,' turning to his dragon.

"I'm fine, you? I'm just glad you two don't dislike the animal. Though I'm not sure what you call it."

She said, tipping her head slightly at the beast before shaking her head and ruffling her wings. They had grown slightly stiff with sleep, as per usual, and she was thankful for the morning hunt to stretch them. It would make her less shaky when she was practicing if her wings weren't stiff.

She watched Hiccup cut the meat curiously, tilting her head slightly again, and focusing on him. She had seen hunters do the same thing, but this practice of heating food up was fascinating to the skrill fae. She, not having to heat up food, wasn't used to the process, or why it was done, but she hypothesized that it was done because humans couldn't handle raw meat without getting sick.

She settled down to clean her wings, letting Toothless have what he wanted of the prey. She was used to little, and she needed to be the best hostess the two could ask for. So she would wait.

---

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Hiccup
###
CUUTEEEE (sorry it's a bit... short XD)

[Hiccup]

The Night Fury gave a soft trill and shook his head, "it's called a boar, or that's what humans named them, there are many of these on Berk." He rumbled softly, watching Hiccup to make sure he was eating before he craned his neck to tear into the animal, he certainly preferred fish to anything else, but he knew they would all need their strength for whatever today held. He'd made sure to leave more for Kiara, knowing well that he could fish later if he got hungry again, he nudged the rest over to her, "I can fish, and you need your strength more than myself." He gave a soft incline, indicating that she should have the rest. When he was finished eating himself, Hiccup got to his feet and looked thoughtful, "maybe it would be easier to ease your fears if I was right there with you..." He was speaking to himself, but also to the two dragons, knowing full well that Toothless would act as a translator to the Skrill, Kiara, he thought her name was...That was the thought that he'd gotten from Toothless last night, "Kiara, if you'll allow me on your back again..." He figured maybe it would be a more solid reassurance that he was there. Toothless tilted his head, then looked over at their friend, "he wants to try getting on your back, reassure you physically through touch and sound, he trusts you." He figured it wasn't a terrible idea, if he stayed in the water and his rider stayed close to Kiara, "what do you say?" He could easily deter his rider from the idea if it didn't sit right with the Skrill, it was the benefit of the way he communicated with Hiccup, more direct than the man could with other dragons. He got to his feet after a moment, stepping out of the cave to stretched each wing in turn, before doing the same for the rest of his body, it always felt odd now being without any of his riding gear when they were so far from home, but there had been no signs of danger here as of yet, so the need to escape quickly had fallen to the back of his mind for the moment. "Hiccup" - "Toothless" ♛𝕟𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖♛

M A I D

[♛𝕟𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖♛]

I AM A FOREST OF

DARKNESS, WITH SHADOWS FOR LEAVES

BUT HE WHO IS BRAVE ENOUGH, WILL FIND ROSES UNDER MY CYPRESSES

She scrunched her face up a bit at Toothless, biting back a retort about how he should let her be a good hostess, before nodding and bending her head low to snap the remaining bits of the animal up, swallowing quickly and looking at the duo.

She listened to Hiccup, frills twitching, before turning to Toothless and again listening, keeping herself quiet while they explained themselves. Once she got the gist, she nodded her head once, and, extending a wing down flat, lowered her neck to allow him safe passage back onto her back without hurting himself.

The truth was, no matter how much her blood and mind told her to jerk away from his touch and fly far-far away, she needed this man to get off this pile of rock, and... even though it might not be right, she trusted him. To not hurt her, at least.

"Of course. If you two think it will speed up things, I'm willing to try anything."

She rumbled quietly, looking at Toothless motionlessly for a second before flicking her gaze to Hiccup's face as she waited for him to make the decision if he was going to climb atop her back again.

She did halve minor concerns about him not having a saddle, or any other ways of latching himself her her back, in case something happened, but she was confident that, with the right amount of care, she could help him maintain his perch atop her figure.

---

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Hiccup
###
CUUTEEEE (sorry it's a bit... short XD)

[Hiccup]

Toothless could only give her an amused snort at the expression, clearly getting the gist of the retort she wanted to throw his way, but he didn't pry into it, he was right after all, fear and worry could eat away at a body's hunger more than anything else, and she would need her strength to not be drained and overwhelmed, doubly so with Hiccup on her back, both would need to be alert and aware, and hunger would take the edge off of their senses. He had much less need being in the water watching from below. Hiccup was gentle as he approached Kiara, resting a reassuring hand on her neck before carefully climbing up onto her back, it was always strange riding without a saddle, he had to be more aware of the way he was situated to avoid discomfort for either of them, he was thankful at least that her immense size made his presence on her back less invasive, "alright, lets try this." He looked over at Toothless, who nodded and turned his attention back to Kiara, "if having him on your back becomes too much, I'll tell him for you." He gave a soft warbling chuckle, "we'll be over the water, so there is no danger of him being harmed should he fall." Perhaps that would even help to show her that there was no danger, he arched his eyes to the human on her back, wondering if that factored into his idea at all. When he was sure he was situated, the rider reached to rest a gentle, reassuring hand against her forehead, letting out a soft, reassuring sound, "we'll be fine. I'm right here. I wont let anything happen to you." He gave a smile, then pulled back to hold on, Toothless nodded to her before he started at an easy pace to the lake, figuring they would fly for comfort's sake. "Hiccup" - "Toothless" ♛𝕟𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖♛

M A I D