686Chapter 35: Deliberation
Deliberation
Hiccup had been thinking over this inevitable issue for the last couple days since that snowstorm that had forced the pack to take shelter underground where he might have seen the underworld itself. Not to mention Surtr also.
While he had a history of screwing up, causing Ragnarok was not one of his mistakes.
"Alright bud, we should talk about it," Hiccup sighed, leaning against Toothless's side.
"Talk about what?" Toothless blinked after yawning.
"About what we came up here to do: finding the Night Furies and bringing them back to the rest of the world. I feel like we've been avoiding this for a while..."
They had been with the pack for probably over a full month, and they had not yet truly spoken to each other or to anyone else in the pack about the real mission in all that time. Too much time had gone to getting to know people, especially the family they had not known was out there.
But this issue was going to come up eventually. He also thought he had made all the progress he possibly could make with getting to know the families in the pack and helping them trust him.
Toothless nodded and got to his paws.
"Yes, we need to fly through this cloud and decide what to do," Toothless agreed.
They walked through the forest and settled down on the warm rocks by the hot springs. It was isolated enough that they could talk freely without the concern of possibly being overheard.
Hiccup frowned, staring off across the steaming hot springs where someone else was curled up. That Fury was too far away to be distinguished from a distance.
"Okay, where to start? I don't know. The pack is so happy, safe, and at peace right now."
"Yes, they are. There could be more food, but it could be worse. We are safe... now..."
"But?"
Toothless growled and bared his teeth while faintly snarling.
"We know that a Nazgul flew up here before. It will again. The pack cannot hide here forever."
Hiccup nodded.
"Yeah. Sauron already knows where we are. But if we bring the pack down into the war, there is a chance someone could get hurt."
"There is always a chance of that."
Hiccup frowned, "Yeah, but we don't know what will happen if the pack doesn't join the war. They... we could just stay up here and wait until the war is over. Maybe it would be better for them to stay out of it."
"Do you truly think that?" Toothless grumbled.
"I... I don't know. I'm just considering all possibilities."
Toothless grumbled and looked around at Hiccup.
"Would you say that humans are afraid of what they do not know?"
"Yep. We both know they are."
"Fly this thought-flight with me. The pack stays here in hiding, alone and away from humans, Elves, and Dwarves. What if the Enemy is destroyed? Humans, Elves, Dwarves, and others win the war against Sauron and then will spread into more ranges. They will eventually find the pack, or the pack will find them. What happens then?"
Hiccup wanted to say that the meeting would be good and peaceful. Hopefully many years of isolation, the encounter would be peaceful because the old pains would be forgotten. No one would remember dragons as being gold-hoarding, dangerous monsters.
But now, having seen and heard from both sides, dragons and humans, he knew that optimism was hopelessly naive. Peace was not the natural way, especially when both sides were capable predators who hunted the same food and even each other when forced to. Dragons having fire-breath, teeth, and claws naturally made them creatures to be feared.
Fear made people act... on instinct. Humans were no different.
"There would be fighting. Hunting. Killing. Self-defense. You guys are big predators, after all. Extremely dangerous, kill on sight..." he whispered.
Toothless sighed and nodded.
"I agree. Peace needs to be worked for by both sides and made stronger together. What about the other possibility if we do not fight? What if the Enemy wins the war and gets the Ring? The pack might become his thrall-slaves always. He would use us as weapons and monsters. Maybe we would have power over humans, but... that would be very wrong to be his thrall-slaves."
"Yeah, that sounds about right. He would do that to us," Hiccup agreed.
Toothless continued.
"What if we do fight and help the humans and others win the war? That will help the pack be free of Sauron and also be more trusted. If we fight Sauron and he still wins... we would be his slave-thralls anyway... so that is not truly worse," Toothless reasoned.
Hiccup entirely agreed, but he saw one point Toothless had not brought up.
"Bud, I hate to ask this... but why would the pack not want to freely join with Sauron? Why not be his willing servants?"
A long silence followed that question until Toothless answered.
"I want to be free of him, and I... felt what is truly in his soul-fire. Cruelty. Malice. A will to dominate all life. Even if the pack was never around the Ring, they still know that the Nazgul is twisted not-life. Flame-In-The-Night and Snowfall turned the Nazgul away last time. The pack will not want to serve Sauron. I am sure of that," he huffed.
Hiccup winced and rubbed Toothless's neck.
"I'm afraid of what will happen. What if the pack agrees to fight and someone gets... hurt or worse?"
"Then the rest of us will flame all enemies who hurt one of the pack."
"Maybe. I just wish it did not need to be this way."
Toothless huffed softly and gently slapped Hiccup's head with a wing.
"Bud, what was that for?" Hiccup grumbled.
"Maybe the fighting will be good! Think about it. The humans will see us fighting for them when we did not need to. That will help them trust us, yes?"
Hiccup thought about it and reluctantly agreed with Toothless's point.
"Yes, you're right. If anything can, that will. My old tribe had a saying that anyone who fights in battle on the same side... is family."
He neglected to add that part of the saying involved shedding blood together.
Hiccup frowned and thought back to the Council in Rivendell. Something said back then struck him.
"What was it Elrond said at the Council? If something is a danger, we cannot sit around and hope it gets taken care of by someone else later on. Nothing will change that way. We have to do something about this now. You and I could try to change the world on our own, but the world might be too big for both of us."
Toothless nodded, agreeing entirely.
"Yes, the pack will be involved sooner or later. We cannot hide forever. Humans want to explore and find hidden places like this one. We should talk to the pack tonight," Toothless proposed.
"Sounds good."
A long silence followed as they stared out at the forest and occasionally saw a moving shadow or a Fury going for a swim in the hot water.
Hiccup then closed his eyes as the course became clear. They would wait until the pack returned from the day's hunting, and then they would talk to the pack. They would try to convince the entire pack that it was necessary to join the war against Sauron for their own sake or do something else to involve themselves.
While the risk of joining the war was disturbing to think about, Toothless had rightly pointed out that there was another possibility for a good outcome. Having proven themselves to be good creatures, the Furies could hopefully be welcome to live in peace among the free peoples of Middle-earth.
Eyes lit with starlight flashed in his memory.
'Whoever saves one life saves an entire world. You have not yet found your purpose in this world, though I think you know what it is.'
"Maybe that's it..." he whispered.
"What?" Toothless rumbled.
"I know what I'm supposed to do with my life."
"Good. What is it?"
He waved a hand toward the forest.
"Think about the pack living in peace with everyone else; almost like what we did in the Shire only much bigger. Think about adults working together and kids playing together or flying together."
"That peace would be very good," Toothless purred.
Hiccup got to his feet, feeling more confident the longer he thought about the budding plan. It felt good to do what he could to bring these two different peoples together.
"And to think it all came from one forbidden friendship, ours. It won't be easy, but I'm not going to give up."
"When have you ever given up? Do you not have rock-head stubbornness problems?"
"Yep, I sure do, and you do also, bud."
Toothless stuck out his tongue at him.
Toothless wandered the woods on his own, wanting some time on his own in the range he and Hiccup had lived in for... he was not sure how long, but it had definitely been for several weeks.
It was long enough that he remembered so much of the range even with his eyes closed. The piles of rocks, the gullies that might have had water in them once, the pine trees, the mountains at the base of which the pack lived, and, best of all, the hot pools of water that bubbled and steamed.
He still was not sure what to make of why that place was at all. It was possible that the pools of water were above the melted-rock pools underground... or maybe even above that living shadow and fire, whatever that bad thing was.
I will miss this place once we leave...
He stopped walking and stared aimlessly into the distance.
There was a possibility he and Hiccup had not talked about. What if the pack refuses to fly south to join the fighting? What if they want to stay up here in hiding always?
Would his own family want to come with him and Hiccup when they both fly south, as he and Hiccup must eventually?
There was no chance of him and Hiccup hiding themselves away from all the fighting when others they cared about were fighting the enemy.
No, the pack will listen to us. They must...
He grumbled and then continued on through the woods, no destination in his mind. But if he ended up at the hot pools, he would not object to it. Those were always enjoyable to go relax in for warmth.
Are there hot ponds in the south too? Hopefully.
Then the hot pools of water were just ahead of him. He could also tell that he was getting close because he heard the cries of several of the cubs at play in the water.
"Now me!" "Higher!" "Again!"
He walked out from the trees, walked around a boulder, and froze in place when he saw what was happening.
Moonbeam was standing in the shallows by the deeper water while the cubs swam around her. She bent down, ducked her head under little Nightfall, picked her up, and then wildly tossed her head, throwing Nightfall head over tail out into the deeper water.
Splash.
Nightfall then broke the surface and cried out with joy.
"Yay!"
"Me!" "Me!" Storm-Chaser and Free-Flight bellowed, leaping out of the water.
"You cubs are too big! Just fly into the water!" Moonbeam chuckled.
"Jumping!" "Let us jump!"
"Fine..." she huffed.
She held herself still while the cubs hopped onto her back and perched there. Then they both jumped off her out into the deep water while Nightfall swam back to her side.
"Again!" the little cub yelled.
"Get up!" Moonbeam bellowed.
She let Nightfall climb onto her head again.
His soul-fire was very warmed to see the play and bonding she was giving the cubs. This was so different from another who... had no interest in that part of life.
Maybe he should go out there also and join in the playing. Maybe showing her that he was warm to cubs might help with...
He blinked and shook his head, realizing where his thoughts were leading him.
No. I am not chasing after her tail. Not so soon after Jumps and I... I still need to get over that.
He turned away and went back into the forest on his own. But he paused and glanced back once at her as the cubs swam around her or pawed at her side. She was very appealing in shape, even though she was not a Night Fury. And it was also very clear that she was very kind to cubs. Maybe...
He spun away and ran into the woods.
Grr... stupid thinking. What is wrong with me? Am I that weak to them that just being around females is too much?
He groaned and fell on his belly.
I need to... think about anything else... or do something else to not think about females. What could help me fight this...
Then he had a perfect idea of something wearying and fun that he could do to keep his thoughts away from that. Even better was that this activity was bonding with someone dear to his soul-fire but whom he wanted to come to trust far more.
He began galloping through the woods toward the mountains. It was a pleasant, relaxing run, and then he spotted all his present kin at the end of his run.
Yes! He is here! Hiccup also!
"Sire!"
He ran to a stop before Far-Flight. His sire and Hiccup had been talking about something while Breath-Of-Sky listened in. Sky-Dancer was off helping the pack with the day of hunting.
"Burning-Star, we were just talking about you!" Far-Flight hummed.
His ears went back in worry as he stared at Hiccup.
"What were you saying?"
"I was telling them about some of our adventures in the cove, the wild, and the Shire," Hiccup immediately answered.
"That is good."
"And you told us about the time he..." Breath-Of-Sky eagerly began.
"No! Don't tell him..." Hiccup interrupted.
"Oh, okay," Breath-Of-Sky innocently warbled.
His sire and brothers then stared at him in silence while smiling in various degrees of showing teeth.
I do not want to know...
So he turned to Far-Flight and purred at him.
"Sire, can we do a bonding-fight?"
Far-Flight's ears flew up.
"Yes, my cub! I would like that very much. What rules for the fight?"
There were several fights that he could choose from. Some were fights to push the other off their balance, different fights ended with the other's neck between his jaws, and other fights were to push the other past a line. The middle option was most tiring, so that made it the best option for his needs.
"Jaws to neck is the win. No teeth, no claws, no flying, no bleeding. First to two wins takes the fighting win."
Far-Flight growled and lowered himself to the ground with his tail swaying. Breath-Of-Sky and Hiccup dashed aside to be out of the way.
"My cub, you have not beaten me yet..." Far-Flight grinned while flicking his teeth in and out.
He dropped down low and rolled his shoulders.
"One of these days I will!"
They began circling each other while Hiccup and Breath-Of-Sky watched. His sire was a nosetip bigger than him, but he himself was stronger and better-fed. Having lived on the ground for so long helped make him stronger than most other Night Furies were. It was probably an even fight.
There was also some pride to be won from the fight. The few times when Hiccup had offended his status as a Night Fury had resulted in Hiccup losing fights. With his sire, there was natural cub against sire fighting in a good and bonding way. Breath-Of-Sky wrestled with Far-Flight even though there was no chance of winning such a fight.
But he wanted to win this fight.
"Take him down, bud!" "Go brother!"
Encouraged by his brothers, he pounced with a twisting jump. Far-Flight dashed to the side and snapped at his neck. Both strikes barely missed, though their noses did touch necks. Then they spun away from each other and glared while purring.
"Fast, my cub..." Far-Flight smirked.
"I try."
"But not fast enough."
Far-Flight went on the attack this time. Another pair of snaps and quick dodges followed.
This will be fun.
His sire won the fight on the third set of fighting. That was fine. He was getting better himself, and every loss or play-fight helped him learn more of his sire's moves. He would win eventually.
During the contest and in the exhaustion that followed, he never once felt distracted by his thoughts going to what didn't matter for him anymore.
Evening arrived at the end of a long day filled with anticipation and play.
All the hunters returned with their catches for the pack, some of which went to Lightning first.
The pack was now settling down to rest as the sky filled with an orange glow.
Hiccup took a very deep breath to steady himself. Toothless did the same next to him, also apparently feeling nervous.
It's not every day I get to ask an entire tribe to abandon their home and go somewhere else. Hopefully they won't have stubbornness issues.
"Ready?" Toothless whispered.
"Yes, it's go time!"
They got to their feet and approached the Alpha pair roughly in the middle of the other pairs. Hiccup walked with a hand on Toothless's neck, feeling his purring in reassurance.
Flame-In-The-Night and Snowfall were peacefully resting together with Free-Flight asleep under her wing. Snowflame was off whispering with Windripper a short flight down the range.
"Alphas, we would speak with you," Toothless hummed, sitting down before them.
They both purred back to him and Hiccup.
"You know that we flew from the south to search for other Night Furies, for other dark wings like you," Hiccup began.
"Yes, you told us before," Flame-In-The-Night answered.
"We wanted to talk more about that," Hiccup added.
The Alphas glanced at each other and gave curious warbles, their ears lifting with their curiosity.
"Please listen to us. We want to help the pack," Toothless implored.
"Speak," Snowfall said.
"You know that the humans are fighting an Enemy... the same Alpha of the Nazgul that flew to you long ago?"
"You told us," Flame-In-The-Night huffed.
"We think that the pack should fly to the humans and help them in the fighting. Doing that would be good for the pack."
The Alphas blinked and froze.
"Why? Why would we help those creatures that hunted us?" Flame-In-The-Night softly growled.
"They did not. Those humans have not hunted you. Do you think all humans are bad? Because if they are then I must be also," Hiccup objected.
"You are different, but you were different even from your old pack. Humans are too dangerous, and we are happy here on our own," Flame-In-The-Night answered.
Hiccup solemnly grinned, appreciating that he was different from other humans. While humans had plenty of problems, he knew they could also learn a better way. He was the proof of that. Further, he knew more than the Alphas did.
"But you cannot be on your own forever. You were already found by that... living shadow Nazgul. That shadow's Alpha knows where you are, and it will try to make you his thralls. They will come back for you..."
"If it tries that, we will flame it and drive it away!" Snowfall barked.
Toothless warbled sadly.
"Not if the Enemy gets his Ring. Not if the humans and others who are fighting him die."
"What?" "What?"
"The Enemy can make us all into thought-thralls. I know. I felt... it. Have you ever been thralled to a Monster?" Toothless growled freely.
"No, but some of us were in nests with dragons that can... twist thinking," Snowfall warily answered.
A few other of the Fury pairs padded closer to listen in.
"Even if that is all true, how could the enemy control us?" she added.
"It is twisted to think about, but he has a thing like this," Toothless held up his pendant with a paw, "but his one, his precious, is filled with... bad life, a twisted soul-fire, that would make him a very powerful Alpha. It would give him much power over us dragons, if he gets it. We would never be free then..."
All the other Furies in the pack had been amazed at the pendant and how it could make light that felt warming. Several of them even remarked that it reminded them of a good place in the past, though they didn't speak much about that place.
It was his idea to wear the pendant now.
"You want the pack to be safe, and we do also. The best way to do that is help the humans win the fighting," Hiccup added.
"Why would humans trust us? Why does it help us to fight for them?" Snowfall objected.
"Humans would just turn against us. They would hunt us!" Flame-In-The-Night added.
Hiccup frowned and leaned against Toothless's side.
"Humans... protect their own. They are loyal to each other, usually. They need to understand that you dragons are not very different from them. The best way you can change their mind is to fight for them. I know what will happen if you stay here in this hidden world of your own forever."
"What?" Flame-In-The-Night warily warbled.
"As long as you live away from humans and fear them, you will be a different group to them. They will never know you like I know Burning-Star. But, humans are explorers. They will eventually find this place, and what do you think they will see when they see you?"
The silence was deafening as Hiccup paused and looked around at all the differently colored eyes. He had not known that he had attracted an audience of over a dozen of the Furies.
"Monsters. Extremely dangerous, kill on sight. Nothing will change! I don't want that!"
Flame-In-The-Night looked away, staring into the trees.
"You can't stay here forever," Hiccup implored him.
"It is not our fight!" Snowfall hissed.
"Yes, it is your fight. Do you want the humans of this world to be your enemies just like before or your friends like me?"
Free-Flight, having woken up at some point, slithered out from under his mother's wing and dashed over to him.
"I like you! Humans are good!" Free-Flight nuzzled his leg.
Flame-In-The-Night got to his paws and strode over to Hiccup, eventually sitting down and softly growling. Hiccup almost shivered at the curled lips so close to him. But he did not.
"Why would humans trust us? Why would anything be different now!" Flame-In-The-Night snarled.
Hiccup hid his frustration at how stubborn he was being. Flame-In-The-Night was simply a concerned leader who had the well-being of his pack at heart.
"My old... pack had a saying. The enemy of an enemy is a friend. The humans have been hurt by fighting with the true Enemy. The same Enemy sent the shadow-Nazgul to your pack. The same Enemy will try to make you his slaves and mounts. Burning-Star has felt that. You have not hurt the humans of this world. If you help them, you show them that you are on their side."
Surprisingly, Moonbeam approached and stared intensely at him. Her tail swished as she grumbled.
"And then what happens? If we fight for the humans and help them, then what? Would you have us give away our backs and become mounts for them to use?"
"No! No. You are not mounts or things for them to use. I hope that you could live in peace with the humans."
"So? Why do we need that?" she objected.
Hiccup crossed his arms and considered her, trying to understand her point. Why would they not want to live in peace? Her past with humans was not good, for sure, but the idea that peace was not even worth considering was too terrible to consider.
"What are you afraid of, Moonbeam?"
"What?" she growled.
"The way I see it, humans and dragons could either live in peace or be enemies. I don't think there is another option. Hiding up here won't work forever. Do you really want more fighting and killing?"
"No..." she warbled.
"Neither do I."
Hiccup turned back to the two Alphas.
"Why should you want the peace? Think about all the cubs. Do they always get enough food? The wild out here does not look good. Is there always enough hunting for everyone in the pack?"
He knew the answer without needing to ask, so he asked to make a point. Most of the Furies in the pack looked thinner than they probably should be. They were thinner than Toothless, anyway. No one was apparently close to starvation, but neither was there truly enough food to go around.
Lightning got to her paws and stepped forward. Naturally, she was one of the few Furies who was not underfed. She sat down and put a paw to her belly.
"I know how much food you have all given me and my cub. I wish there was more for us all. Hiccup, would the other humans let us have prey animals to hunt and eat?"
"Yes," he eagerly nodded, "humans know how to grow more food than you can find out there..." he waved vaguely toward the wild.
He was also very pleased that Jumps-At-Fire stepped forward from where she had been resting. She purred softly in his and Toothless's direction before she turned for the pack. She looked rather uncomfortable in front of the entire pack, but that was understandable for someone who preferred being on their own.
"You know that I fly farther from the pack than the rest of you. I see fewer prey-herds and less hunting every year. We should listen to this idea."
She then walked back to the shadow of the trees and lay down there.
Toothless blinked and looked away from Jumps-At-Fire. Then he stood tall and looked around to the nearest listening Furies. He hummed in surprise when he saw that almost all the pack was gathered close around them. Adults, fledglings, and cubs, all of them were listening attentively.
He swept his tail around for them all to see, and he wiggled his tailfin.
"I am not grounded because of what Hiccup made for me. I would be dead if not for him and what his clever paws can make. The wild would have let me die. I know humans because I fought against them for a pawful of years. The humans in this world do not know us as monsters. Hiccup and I lived in peace with small humans and others before we flew here. We should help them."
"I must question the hunt. What would you have us do... if we do help them?" Flame-In-The-Night objected.
That was a point Hiccup was not so sure about. He knew well how destructive Night Furies could be. But he did not know anything about what any enemies would be like, aside from the Nazgul. Neither did he know anything about what the armies looked like on both sides. Or where any of the battles would likely happen.
He knew basically nothing about Middle-earth from the perspective of one needing to plan for war.
"How many of you are fighters?" Hiccup asked.
"Me!" "I am!" "Grr!"
The cubs flashed their teeth and pawed at the ground.
Hiccup chuckled at their eagerness, and then he turned to Flame-In-The-Night. The Alpha male flashed his teeth. His were far more impressive than those of the cubs.
"We have not forgotten," he growled.
"I don't know what the fighting would be like or how it would happen. You could watch from the skies to help protect the humans against unseen enemies or surprise attacks. You could use your fire to flame enemies from the sky."
"Risk our lives for those we have never met and who probably will hate us for what we are?" Flame-In-The-Night sighed.
Hiccup approached him and stared evenly into his deep blue eyes.
"I don't think they will hate you. They cannot hate anyone who helps them. Staying apart from them will not help. I know that, and you know that too."
Without saying anything, Flame-In-The-Night turned away from him and lay down at Snowfall's side. The Alpha pair whispered to each other while Hiccup returned to Toothless's side. Other pairs were doing the same as the Alphas, whispering to each other all throughout the pack.
Meanwhile, Far-Flight and Sky-Dancer had silently crept closer.
"Burning-Star, is that what you were almost telling us about before?" Sky-Dancer asked.
"Yes, we want to help the pack, and that means life of peace with humans and helping them win their fighting. What do you think of that, dam?" he warily asked.
"It is... twisted and different, but the only human I know now is a good one," she grinned toothlessly.
"Sire?"
Far-Flight huffed and nuzzled his shoulder.
"You, my firstborn, changed much about the world. We must be careful if we do fly to the human ranges. I... lost a cub once, but I found him again. I will not lose another."
His sire's concern for him and Breath-Of-Sky was very soul-fire warming.
"Sire, I will be fine as long as I have Hiccup with me!"
"Love that confidence, bud..." Hiccup chuckled.
Flame-In-The-Night and Snowfall then roared aloud a call to the whole pack. Heads lifted from where the pairs had been in quiet whispering.
"Pack! Two of our own have proposed that we fly to aid the flights of... humans. Do any of you wish to speak?" Snowfall cried.
Dreamcatcher stepped forward and then stood tall.
"I say that we stay here. We should not fly a flight to those who would hunt us. It will only hurt us to fly there. We are few even now."
She faced Hiccup.
"Hiccup is not a monster, true. We all know that. But he is not all humans. What he and Toothless are is not normal, not natural. It would not be if Toothless had not lost the tailfin in fighting. We should stay here and be on our own in peace."
Hiccup winced when Dreamcatcher dropped down to the ground and ambled back to her mate and daughter. Nothing that she said was spoken with any anger, and it was not unreasonable of her either.
But it hurt deeply to hear. Especially the part about how he and Toothless met.
She's not totally wrong... I only got to know him because I grounded him first...
Then this meeting looked like it was about to get much worse.
Moonbeam stepped forward before the entire pack, and she silently stared at him. Her piercing purple eyes never blinked, and her ears remained flattened to her head the entire time.
He remembered talking to her about trust and about how he truly wanted the best for the pack. She had been suspicious of him then, and that was before he even proposed the pack join the war.
Yep, we're doomed. No way she trusts us...
Then she looked away to the rest of the pack.
"I know monster humans. Better than any others in the pack. Hiccup is not a monster. I do not think he is a bad human or means us any hurts. But it is also true that he is not all humans. Burning-Star, would you agree that Hiccup has never hurt a dark wing?"
Toothless blinked.
"True, he has never... tried to hurt any of us."
Her eyes narrowed very slightly as she tilted her head.
"What are you not saying?" she quickly asked.
Toothless hesitated and then grinned.
"He might have fouled our shared flight when we were learning to fly. We crashed into many rocks..."
"And I said that was my fault! I'm sorry about that!" Hiccup answered.
Moonbeam's eyes relaxed after a moment, and she turned back to the rest of the pack.
"Hiccup should have the pack's trust. If he says that flying to the humans might help the pack, there must be some lift to the flight. Burning-Star would also not lead us into a bad flight."
She then stared at him again.
"But we will always be free dragons if any of us do choose to help humans or even... range with them."
"You will be. I promise," Hiccup swore.
Moonbeam grumbled, walked back to Mystery's side, and lay down with her.
"Do others wish to speak?" Flame-In-The-Night roared.
The rest of the pack looked around at each other while purring softly. No one else stepped forward or shouted anything.
"My mate and I agree that we are safe here now. Humans can be dangerous, and we know that. But we are dangerous also! We are dark wings and light wings!" Flame-In-The-Night cried.
Several echoing roars went up.
Snowfall flared her wings and stood up.
"We did not become your Alphas by telling you what to do! You choose to listen to us, and we listen to you. If we do this, we fly as a full pack. How many of you would have us fly to the humans?"
Not sure what to expect, Hiccup looked around at everyone in the pack. It all depended on how convincing he and Toothless had been, now and in the past weeks, and whether the pack was willing to trust. Would they take a risk and try to change the world?
He had to stifle his initial amusement when the tips of tails lifted into the air all throughout the pack. The lifted tailfins far outnumbered those on the ground, of which there were only a few.
Then he realized what this meant.
Everyone else did also.
The Alphas blinked in surprise, their wings falling to the ground at their sides. To their credit, they quickly recovered themselves and shakily approached him and Toothless. Then they took deep breaths to steady themselves.
"The pack will fly as you said we should. You should know how... twisting this is for us," Flame-In-The-Night warbled.
"Some of us have lived here for almost two tens of years. This is our home-range," Snowfall moaned.
Hiccup stepped over to her and offered her his hands. She looked at them and gently leaned her nose against them while purring softly.
"I know how hard it is to leave somewhere you know and feel safe in. Burning-Star and I left our old islands because we had to. Because it would not have been safe for him there. You all might miss this place, but home is wherever family is."
She stepped back from him and let Free-Flight snuggle with her.
"True, and the pack will be together for this."
"Do you know where you would have us fly?" Flame-In-The-Night asked.
"Yes, it is not to the human lands first. There are others called Elves. They are much like humans but also very different. They have a... range called Rivendell. That is where we should fly first."
"Why there?"
"It is the closest place that I know you would be very safe. Their... Alpha is the one who said we should look for you. They know Burning-Star and trust him."
"Then we will fly. How long is the flight?"
He frowned, trying to guess at how long the flight was going to be. Between the flight from Lothlorien, days exploring the Withered Heath and the Grey Mountains, and an unknown number of days searching the Northern Waste, he had completely lost count. The journey home would be for at least a week and maybe even two.
So he shrugged.
"Not sure. It is a long flight, that is all I can say."
Snowfall grumbled.
"It will be a slow flight with the cubs and Lightning flying slower. Nightfall is only three winters, and she will need to be carried by her sire and dam."
"When does that happen: a cub learning to fly?" Hiccup asked.
"Their wings are strong enough to hold air when they have three winters, but those flights are very short ones as the wings grow stronger," she answered.
"When will we fly?" Toothless asked.
Flame-In-The-Night hummed in thought.
"Not now or the following sun. We will send out all the hunters to catch as much prey as they can. We will all eat much more than we need. Then we fly in a pawful of suns."
Flame-In-The-Night then stepped closer to Hiccup.
"I still think it might be safer to stay here. If anything happens to us or any of the pack..."
He did not growl or snarl or narrow his eyes. There was no need to.
"I... I won't fail you, any of you..." Hiccup whispered.
Oddly, Flame-In-The-Night sighed and looked away. He spoke softly so that no others could hear.
"Hiccup, your soul-fire is burning bright with no shadows in it. But have you ever lost anyone you were responsible for as the flight-leader?"
"No..."
"I have. If we do this and fight for humans, you will see things that you will never forget. You say that you will not fail us, but you cannot promise that. You could do everything well and still lose those who are important."
"We will be careful..."
"I hope that will be enough. If anything happens to us or any of the pack, the fault is on our wings, mine and my mate's, not yours," Flame-In-The-Night whispered.
Then he and Snowfall turned aside and returned to where they had been resting. All the other Furies gradually did the same, forming their family sleeping piles. No one looked interested in resting though.
Hiccup and Toothless returned to Far-Flight, Sky-Dancer, and Breath-Of-Sky. Toothless lay down among them all, and Hiccup rested at his side under a wing.
Hiccup closed his eyes and listened to the purring around him.
There should have been relief. He and Toothless had succeeded at convincing the Furies to join the battle, if there was to be one, and to make an effort to live in peace with everyone else.
But there was also a faint worry deep in his heart since he knew all the Furies in the pack by name now.
Hopefully there won't actually be any fighting. It would be best to bring them back to live in peace without the need for war, but that's probably not going to happen...
There was another whispering voice in the back of his heart. The voice spoke with a cold hiss the more he thought about how bringing the pack into the world would change the course of the future.
'He can burrn, tearr, rrend, and sslay, ssuch iss the hearrt of everry drragon.'
Have they felt what Toothless has felt? Had to resist gold? Do they even know about that? It doesn't look like they would. None of them have said anything about hoards.
Then he felt a nose gently nudge his side. He stared into wide green eyes.
"Hiccup?" Breath-Of-Sky whispered.
"Breath-Of-Sky?"
"We are flying to see more humans, yes?"
"Yes, and others like them."
The young Fury purred.
"Good! I like that."
"Me too," he scratched behind the Fury's ears until Breath-Of-Sky fell into a purring sleep.
He just started to feel drowsy when he was nudged again on his other side.
"Do you think this will work?" Toothless whispered.
Hiccup lay down on his back and stared up into the clear sky. The stars slowly wheeled about overhead, and the sky was painted with a faint green aurora.
"Remember that we were not supposed to be here in Middle-earth at all, but we are. That must be for a reason. This pack is the reason."
"That we can bring them back to live in peace with everyone else."
"Yeah, why not? Why not change the world forever?"
Toothless nuzzled his shoulder while purring softly.
"You have always been different. The world will not change itself."
Hiccup reached over and gently twisted one of the Fury's ears.
"Nope. Change doesn't happen if people sit around and wait for it. All we can do is... try... and never give up."
"Burning-Star, I want to talk," Jumps-At-Fire said as she bounded up to him.
Great skies...
He glanced around and confirmed that they were alone under the trees for the moment.
"Yes, what about?"
"About this flight we will fly."
Oh, good. Not something else...
"What about it?"
"Do you know how long the flight will be?"
"How many days will the flight take? No, I do not know. Ten, two tens, I cannot say."
She hummed.
"This flight will be to new ranges I do not know. That is... exciting."
He found it slightly surprising that she was not afraid.
"Yes, it is that. To speak truth, I was wondering if you would fly the flight with the pack."
She huffed.
"Yes, being in new, warmer ranges I could fly in would be good. There is also more protection in a pack than completely outside. I never forgot that."
"That is good to hear."
She purred.
"I also wanted you to know that we must wait more, another pawful of days."
Then she spun around and dashed off into trees before he could say anything.
Wait more for... oh... yes... that. Not a problem.
He was not sure how to gently go about saying what had to be said. There might not be such a way.
Hopefully she does not truly trust me or feel anything in her soul-fire for me. Her not feeling for me would make this easier when I tell her the truth.
Hiccup rolled awake in the dead of night. He shifted under Toothless's wings and looked out from the warm protection.
The cold bit at his nose while the moon shone in the heavens on this clear night. The faint wind almost echoed with a shrill cry above the mountains.
His thoughts were very confused, but he had a vague feeling that he was being watched. Was there a dark shape circling high in the sky and blotting out the stars as it flew, or was that only his imagination?
It probably was a Fury out on a nighttime flight.
He groaned wearily and hid himself in the living tent. Back in that warmth, his thoughts drifted to the far South and to people he had not seen in a long time. Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Gandalf, Aragorn, Bilbo, and Elrond mostly. He had no idea where they were or what had happened to them.
But the thought of seeing them again and of them seeing the pack of Furies coming to join the war was a very good one.
Then he quickly fell into a dreamless sleep.