FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

** This was an RP between myself and the wonderful artist/writer Crownflame. Be sure to check out her stuff :)**

This story contains soft oral vore (non-fatal) and contains mature themes.

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A high screeching noise tore Hiccup out of his wing-beat induced trance.

He couldn't remember when he and Toothless had first taken flight-- it seemed like it was hours, maybe days ago. All he knew was that he'd been staring at bobbing, monotonous sea below, squinting for poking rocks or landmarks so intensely, for so long, that his vision was full of waves even after he focused back on the sky between the auricles of his flying companion. He blinked, frowning.

That screeching noise again, so sudden he swallowed hard. His throat was parched dry from such a long, ceaseless flight- he wished he hadn't drained his canteen hours ago. Even his meager hunger had made short work of his rations long before that, and the dragon hadn't eaten since before they'd taken off-- how long ago?

What in Thor's name--? Another screech, which pealed out into an unassuming, steady little squawk, squawk, squawk, in time with Toothless' intermittent wing-beats. Hiccup's heart leaped into his throat. Biting his lip, he flattened himself more tightly to the Night Fury's hot neck, very, very gently running his fingers over metal buckles and leather straps. No...He peered over his shoulder, over at the false tail. Was it just him, or was the wind flapping it around just a little bit more than usual?

Swallowing hard, he carefully shifted his left foot. He didn't want to unnecessarily worry Toothless, but... He watched for a response from the wavering tail. Nothing. No- he shifted the gear with a bit more force, and the tail responded-- weakly, causing a bump in their line of flight.

Instinctively, Hiccup clung to Toothless' neck for reassurance. They'd never been out this long before- it shouldn't have been much a surprise that the equipment was starting to fail.

"Um," he tried to make himself heard over the rush of wind, but he didn't know exactly what to say. All he knew is he was pretty sure he wasn't going to be able to make repairs while they were airborne, and the tail was only going to keep getting looser, and if they didn't find a place to land and make repairs quickly, well... it was safe to say they wouldn't be returning from this little expedition.

Looking down at the waves below, Toothless released a small puff of smoke, his body gliding effortlessly across the skies as he took his companion on a peaceful flight. It was certainly a relief to remove themselves from the rowdy, Viking-oriented culture of Berk and simply enjoy the time they could spend together in peace, enjoying each-other's company. It wasn't that the dragon didn't like Astrid and the others... they were just a little too... not Hiccup.

He felt an uneasy shift in the saddle above him, and he turned his head a little to see what was making his human shuffle around so much. To his concern, Hiccup seemed to be giving the metal control for his false-tail-wing a rather vigorous pounding with his foot. The Viking looked up to see Toothless' large green eyes staring at him curiously, and he gave a small snort as he realised that it seemed to be broken.

"Sorry buddy," he heard Hiccup say, "but we're going to have to land." He watched as Hiccup motioned downwards towards the ground, and he understood what that motion meant. Turning his head back towards the front, the black Night Fury scanned the area for any patches of land that they could safely make a landing on. His eyes focused upon a small island, almost half a mile to the east.

As the dragon slowly banked towards that location, he suddenly heard a loud crack from behind him. Panicking, he looked back to see the false-tail had snapped, sending his body into a slight, yet uncontrollable plummet down towards the earth. He could hear Hiccups' loud yell for him to pull up, but without a stable tail it was difficult to control anything. Instead he attempted to angle himself towards the island with any remaining stability he could muster, hoping that he could make it safely and unharmed.

Hiccup wasn't sure he was quite the type to believe in miracles, but when an island suddenly became visible in the desert sea the exact moment they needed it most, he couldn't help but wonder if those drunk and whimsical Viking gods had been keeping an eye on him over their rowdy parlor games.

Given, it was barely an island. Rather more like a very large sandy rock jutting from the sea, with only the stubbornest of green lichens and sea-grasses clinging to it.

Plummeting through the air, they couldn't really afford to be picky. The two could only angle landward and brace themselves against gravity. Hiccup grimly removed his feet from the stirrups, knowing if he kept them in, it was likely his legs would be snapped right out of them. With the tail's connection snapped away, it wasn't like there was anything more he could do to help.

Their landing was wild, windy, clumsy and sudden, like an arrow shot from dragonback and severely missing its target. Hiccup wasn't sure if Toothless had caught them on his front paws, or his chest, or his shoulder, or what, but the dragon thunked into the shore front-first like a great black dart, and the resulting jerk was plenty sufficient to throw Hiccup right out of the saddle and on over his head, to land on his back in the sand. The impact on his spine and skull was enough to throw all the air from Hiccup's body, and he wheezed as he was blinded to everything but thunderbolts of pain.

With a small snort to remove the sand from his nose, Toothless slowly managed to pull himself into a standing position, checking his wings but finding nothing broken. The sand seemed to have broken the majority of his fall's impact. Suddenly cluing in to the lack of a weight upon his back, he glanced around in worry for the human that had been there just moments ago.

His nose led him to a small mount of sand, a little of the young Viking's fur coat sticking out from the pile. Flicking his tail in slight amusement, he slowly gripped the piece of clothing between his jaws, pulling firmly as it slid out from the sandy mound, Hiccup following with it. The black dragon checked over his body, but nothing seemed to be injured; he was just knocked a little senseless.

He tapped the human with his front paw, earning no response for his action. With a derisive huff the Night Fury slowly turned towards the ocean, slurping up a large quantity of water. Turning back to his flying partner he opened his mouth and sprayed the water over Hiccup's face, watching as he sat bolt upright, face dripping from the surprise bath.

"B-ah!" spat Hiccup in surprise, rising with a wheeze. "Ohhhh..." His body was thankfully still intact as it was ever going to be, but his entire back was going to be one huge bruise. For a moment, he hugged himself and spat seawater, turning his eye up toward the beast watching over him. He couldn't help but give a grudging smile. Toothless, as ever, was a picture of optimism, such that Hiccup wondered again whether worry was really more a human thing.

Still, their situation was admittedly rather dismal. Maybe Toothless, a great free flying-thing at heart, had never felt much of an attachment to Berk, but after being what Hiccup would deem completely lost for at least a day in the sky, home seemed like something long gone. What was even worse, he realized, as he attempted for the first time to rise to his feet and miserably failed-- even aside from this new wound, his body had weakened. His muscles were exhausted from clinging to the dragon's neck, his belly was utterly, miserably empty such that his small frame felt faint, and he could barely think anymore, he was so thirsty.

Toothless certainly didn't have the appearance of being weakened much at all, despite the fact that he'd been doing all the work. The beast had incredible endurance. Still, Hiccup knew the beast must be massively hungry. Flying could work up quite the appetite.

Hiccup hissed, worried, as he turned his eye to glance over the island. He noticed a gleam of silver atop the slabs of rock, and his stomach twisted in yearning-- perhaps some sweet rainwater had pooled in a crevasse up there? He reached eagerly for Toothless snout, gesturing. "Could we get a drink, maybe?"

Looking up at the top of the rocks, Toothless ruffled his wings and slowly walked towards them, his eyes spotting the same silvery shine that indicated a possible water source. Upon arriving at the rocky area he could see small patches of fresh, clean water that had built up in the small depressions on the stone's surface, and he looked back at Hiccup with a curious expression, almost as if asking permission to drink.

Following behind him, Hiccup climbed up and took a look, noting that there was not much of this water stored for the both of them. He lent forward and dipped his hands in the cool water, lifting them to his mouth and allowing the refreshing liquid to slide into his stomach. Consuming only what he needed to, the young Viking then gestured to the dragon, inviting him to take the rest.

Hiccup climbed down and looked over towards the rest of the island, finding remarkably few materials from which he could repair his Toothless' tail. There was a few small trees, and lots of rock and sand... but if he got the dragon to help him pull down the trees and carve them out a bit... he could replace the gear mechanism... and the tail... some of the stronger ferns could be latticed to reinforce the structure...

Behind him, Toothless drained the last of the water from the rock, glad that his desire for liquids had been satisfied. Yet, after such an arduous flying session, his hunger was beginning to get the better of him. He looked around with his large green eyes, crestfallen when he spotted nothing even remotely edible on the island. Looking out to the ocean, the surface was too dark and murky to even catch fish in.

The Night Fury sat back on his haunches, shooting a glance towards his human, watching the small Viking go about his usual plotting and scheming.

Hiccup sat heavily on the stone, his limbs still feeling weak, numb and sore. Toothless hadn't really let him get a good look at what had actually gone wrong with the tail, yet, but it didn't seem to be anything he wouldn't be able to patch up-- the worst of it was the cord connecting the pedal had worn loose. But it was all quite fixable, even with their limited resources here.

But he didn't think he could think straight or fix ANYTHING unless he found something to eat. He knew it was stupid, but every time he tried to concentrate, his stomach won all his attention. Chewing on his lip, his heart sank as he watched Toothless turning away from the shore. No fish to be found then. He, human, could slice down a sapling and make an attempt at fishing himself (though all he would really have to use for bait would be a strip of stale leather. Maybe boot-sole...), but if the surrounding waters couldn't interest a sharp-eyed dragon, he probably wouldn't have much luck.

He contemplated his knife, trying to pull his attention back onto the the task at hand. He could easily repair the cord with... oh Thor, what he would do for even a tankard of yaknog. Had he ever been this hungry? Berk had had famine before, but there, there had always been hope. Here... when he repaired the tail and they took off, they'd be back in the desert sky for who knows how much longer, and he was already pretty lightheaded.

He had heard stories of a nomadic race on the mainland that would drink the blood from their riding animals when there was nothing to cook. He sighed deeply, disgusted how appealing the idea sounded about now-- salty and hot and rich like a broth, and he wouldn't need that much, really.... He snuck a glance back at the shining dragon-- the beast had shaken off so many tiny nicks and scrapes before-- would he even feel it, if...

Hiccup took a sharp breath. No, no, no, no, no... that was a BAD idea. You show a dragon even a glint of blade and it would be merciful to even leave you alive. Toothless trusted Hiccup, but he wasn't stupid enough to let a desperate human approach him with a knife. He would have to show Toothless exactly what he intended to do, and show him it was safe.

He bit his lip, and with a hissing breath, rolled up his sleeve. "Hey--! Bud...! I've... got something..." He furrowed his brow, his usually-deft blacksmith's hand shaking as he made to cut his own soft shoulder. He certainly didn't have much more to give than a goodwill offering, but... "I've got something..." he murmured.

Toothless turned to see his human, knife in hand, raised up slightly. He growled and stepped back; nothing good ever came of those shiny, pointed rods of steel. Clawing the ground he gestured for Hiccup to drop the blade, hoping that his human would do as he was indicating. He watched, however, as Hiccup brought the blade down to his upper arm instead, pressing it against his own soft flesh.

Suddenly worried, Toothless moved forward, but not before the young Viking had gritted his teeth and pressed the edge against his skin, slicing into it in one swift motion. Being the relatively pain-intolerant softy he was, Hiccup immediately dropped the knife and gripped his arm in pain, much to the black dragon's surprise and unhappiness. Why was his human injuring himself like this?

Releasing his arm, Hiccup offered it out towards the Night Fury, beckoning him closer. With a small grown Toothless padded forward cautiously, wondering exactly what his flight-partner was trying to do.

"Come on buddy," Hiccup called to him, "it's all right... see?" Toothless brought his head down and inspected the wound on the Viking's arm, sniffing deeply and finding the scent somewhat alluring to the primal side of his brain. He suddenly realised that the human was offering him something to consume, much like all the fish that he had been brought in the past. Was it really okay to do this?

He reached out tentatively with his tongue, and licked a little of the warm, red liquid trickling down his arm. Swallowing, he found it didn't taste all that bad, even if it wasn't quite as good as fish. Hiccup winced as the large tongue slid over his cut arm again, but he didn't mind; it would be the best way to convince the dragon that it was okay. What he hadn't counted on, however, was the dragon's logic.

Toothless looked into Hiccup's eyes, once all the blood had been lapped up from his arm. He hadn't realised that humans had the same sort of taste as fish. Perhaps he could eat them like fish too... or at least, that's what he thought. He licked his lips hungrily, his draconic mind processing the idea of consuming the young Viking. Uneducated as he was, Toothless believed that it was simply the process of eating that filled him up. He could simply swallow Hiccup, and then let him back out again... that could work... that way he'd get his fill.

Hiccup grit his teeth. The dragon's rough tongue stung as it drank up his blood, gentle at first, as if acknowledging a wound, and then with an increasing enthusiasm that rather disturbed Hiccup in spite of himself. He couldn't really blame the dragon, though. They were both so hungry-- Toothless would likely be more hungry than ever after now. All he could offer was a few scarlet droplets in a bottomless bucket. He sighed, blinking tiredly at his best friend after the great head finally pulled away, slurping up every wayward smear and regarding him with huge, solemn eyes.

Hiccup managed a weak smile. "Tasty, huh?" he remarked dryly, applying pressure to the wound. He occupied himself with pulling the sleeve back down. "I know it isn't much, but, well... there isn't exactly a lot of me." Never was, never would be. He sighed, raising his gaze hesitantly back to the beast, toying anxiously with the knife in his fingers. "I was kind of wondering if..."

This was a bad idea. It had been a bad idea from the start. The solemn green eyes pierced him, curiously, and the weight of what Hiccup realized he was about to do suddenly fell full force like a ton of bricks. It wasn't wise to let yourself show fear around a dragon, and Hiccup knew he was probably all shuddery breath and trembles by now, but he knew it was either try to do this now-- or faint a few moments later from the combined hunger and horror.

Taking care, he held the knife gently by the blade- not the way he had raised it, so long ago, when he had fully intended to bleed Toothless dry in the forest-- and sought out a spot on the dragon's smooth flank. Grimly, he slid himself near with his free hand, and slowly moved the knife up close. "Toothless... I kind of need to, um... You won't even feel it, just a--"

Perhaps it wasn't wise, but he was so desperate he didn't wait for a response. A deft squeeze against the blade of the knife, and he was breaching the dragon's tough hide.

Surprised by the sudden action of his friend, Toothless growled and jumped back, shocked that Hiccup would do such a thing to him. He let out a low growl, disappointed that his human would even consider trying to cut him. He could see the look of desperation in the eyes of the Viking, however, and managed to pass it off as just Hiccup not thinking straight. Silly humans.

Jumping forward with the speed of a Night Fury, he knocked the sharp knife from Hiccup's hand, sending it skittering across the stone. He pressed down on Hiccup with a large front paw, feeling a little more relaxed now the knife was no longer part of the equation. He looked down and saw the front of his leg had almost been cut by the steel, but his thick skin prevented the knife from reaching beyond.

He could see Hiccup looking at him fearfully, but he bore no ill will when it was obvious the human was just hungry and confused. Toothless pondered the situation for a moment, and decided that it would probably be best to put the human in his stomach; after all, it would stop the silly Viking from injuring anyone, and he could just let him out again once he had found a way to get back off this island.

Holding Hiccup down he inhaled his scent; certainly smelt much better than fish, and probably tasted just as good too. He brought his head down, licking over the young man's face with his massive tongue, slathering it in thick dragon saliva. He was right; Hiccup did actually taste pretty good! He released a small snort, wishing he could tell the human that it was going to be okay, and that he would be safe in his belly.

That... Did not go as planned.

Hiccup, really, had been half-expecting it. Immediately he reeled as Toothless snarled in deep offense, easily knocking the knife from his hand and shoving him heavily to the ground. Hiccup choked, drowning on air and apologies-- "I'm sorry- I'm sorry- OH-! I'm sorry, I'm just-- please don't-- ah-- I didn't mean--!"

And as he stared up at the angrily heaving beast that held him prone, something in his heart fell-- all this, and he hadn't even poured a single drop of blood. He gazed up into that huge, fierce face. "I'm sorry!" he managed, more coherently, his hands clenched pleadingly around Toothless' great paw. "I'm hungry! I'm sorry-- I shouldn't have even--"

He spat in surprise as the creature ducked and licked his face, immediately setting his heart at ease. "Toothless--!" he laughed, scrabbling to try to push the dragon off of him. The beast drew away with an amused sort of huff, regarding him deeply. Hiccup sighed sheepishly, his face twitching, unable to wipe the dragon-slime off. "I'm sorry I scared you," he explained softly. "But I won't hurt you. I will never hurt you-- all right, Bud? Bud?" The beast seemed distracted. Hiccup sighed. "But, well-- you drank a little bit of me, so I thought, maybe I could, sort of..." None of this seemed to be registering with the dragon. Maybe it was a lost cause.

Hiccup tried to keep a gentle smile on his face, but his insides felt like they were collapsing, sending aftershocks tingling unpleasantly to his fingers and toes and scalp. Maybe he would be all right without a meal right now, but he knew he couldn't put it off much longer, and if it wasn't this, now-- when and what would it ever be? But it had been foolish to expect the beast to understand.

"All right, Bud," he murmured, tightening his fingers affectionately around a claw. "All right."

A small huff escaped the dragon's maw, somewhat glad his human had calmed down. He was beginning to worry about him, but obviously the Viking had come to his senses. Still, he was so hungry... he was sure Hiccup would complain about being stuffed in his belly, but after all, he had no idea what was in his stomach to begin with. To Toothless, it was probably just a small sack that could hold food while it made him feel less hungry. The thought that everything that ever went in there usually didn't come back out never crossed the dragon's mind.

He eyed Hiccup's rough clothing with a sort of disdain, knowing it would be rather unpleasant to try and swallow those tough garments along with him. Reaching forward he held Hiccup down, to loud protest, and raised a large claw, hooking it under the Viking's neck line and slowly tearing the clothing from his body. Hiccup, unsure what exactly his dragon was doing, struggled and kicked under him, but the black reptile's strength would not be denied.

Stop... struggling, Toothless thought, finding it silly that the human would resist him so much. He made one quick slice, directly through the middle of Hiccup's coat, removing it from his body with ease. That was one thing the dragon loved about being a dragon... natural weapons. Once Hiccup's thick coat and shirt were off, he tossed the to the side. He eyed the pants, but they were of a thin material, and he wouldn't find that so... irritating to his throat. Looking at the boot, he gripped it and pulled it off; it was also too thick to remain on his human's body.

Meanwhile, Hiccup was starting to understand what was happening to him. Toothless, now finished making him more edible, looked at him with a ravenous expression, licking his large lips hungrily. He hoped the human wouldn't chastise him too much later.

Toothless made a strange noise, high above Hiccup, that Hiccup knew well as the "fish basket" noise, an interested gurgle the creature often made when offered the lovely challenge of a basket full of dinner. This seemed like a bizarre context for it, but Hiccup never claimed to fully understand all of the dragon's various noises. Indeed, he was so lightheaded at the moment, he probably wouldn't have been unduly surprised even if Toothless had blinked at him and addressed him by name.

Toothless didn't do that, but he did more or less stomp directly on Hiccup's chest, eliminating him of air in one thrust. "Careful, Bud--!" he wheezed, making to try to push the paw off, and starting as he heard a distinctive rriiiiip sound-- Toothless' claw, a cold, sharp point pressed against his chest, was slowly pulling downward, flaying wide his tunic as easily as any pair of scissors, leaving a thin white scratch on the pale shuddery skin underneath. Hiccup cried out in surprise. "Toothless! What are you--!?" He shoved uselessly at the paw. "Stoppit-- don't you think I'm going to NEED that--? Why-- TOOTHLESS--!"

No response from the dragon, who aside from a few interested rumbles and grumbles, seemed utterly fixated on the task, exposing his soft underneath like the offal of a fish, and then ripping the thick Viking fabric and fur away with one oddly triumphant sort of swipe, leaving him shocked, cold, shivering and exposed there on the rock. Hiccup felt like he'd been skinned entirely-- he slept in those clothes, only really ever voluntarily removing them to go for a swim, an activity pleasurable approximately one day a year on Berk-- and now they were not only gone, but ruined. The sight of his own shuddering, white ripply chest transfixed him-- underneath, his body was basically ribs and nothing.

"Give it back--!" he blurted, illogically, swiping for the beast's snout before it snuffled out of reach on down his body, pawing curiously at his pants-- oh GODS-- and chuffing interestedly as it carefully wrestled his boot from his numb five toes.

"Toothless--! Wha--!?" he yowled. The wind was cold as it eagerly rushed in, devouring sweat and heat from places where they had lived undisturbed for weeks. Impulsively he could only hug himself, feeling like his already miserably tiny size had been reduced by half, so small and cold. "Toothless... Why...?!"

Toothless studied him from above with a low rumble, slurp-slurping contemplatively.

Hiccup's fingers brushed up against the gooey scar on his arm, and he drew them away in surprise, smeared red. He hissed through his teeth, cold, frightened, powerless and shivering-- and yet he still managed a weak, reed-thin chuckle.

"Oh..." he managed, his heart in his throat. "You want... more."

He should've expected as much. If his stomach was this achy and empty, he couldn't imagine the mountain-moving agony Toothless' belly was going through. Toothless was just as desperate as he was. Probably moreso.

"All right, all right," Hiccup murmured, craning his head around to try to find his knife. "I know you're hungry too. I'll just make another cu-- or, uh, three, and well, and maybe afterward, I--"

His heart was thrumming so fast, like it knew a secret he didn't. His white chest shuddering hard, his ribcage swelling, he clutched at Toothless' paw with one hand, reached uselessly toward the far-off knife with the other, and peered up imploringly into his best friend's face.

"T-Toothless... my knife's, um... over there."

The black dragon looked watched his human companion's muttering and struggling with a curious gaze, but he growled as Hiccup motioned towards his knife. No way was he going to let the silly man start cutting him again... or himself. He pinned Hiccup down with a large paw, feeling for the first time the smooth human skin under his claws. Compared to the other villagers of Berk, his stature was little to be impressed by; it was his brains that the dragon appreciated. Usually.

"Toothless?" the human said, this time with a mixture of worry and confusion lacing his voice. The Night Fury lent down and licked his chest in response, trying to reassure him that he wasn't going to hurt him... or so he thought, anyway. Little did the reptile know what awaited his friend in the dark, churning depths of his stomach.

He saw the trickle of blood from the side of Hiccup's arm, and gave a small churr of displeasure; he didn't like that blade, or anything it did. It seemed to have put Hiccup in a lot of pain when he had cut himself, and he didn't want it back anywhere near either of them. He nuzzled the young Viking's face, trying to somehow explain to him that he was only trying to protect him from himself, and decided that he should probably put him in his stomach to both satisfy his ravenous hunger, and stop him from trying to cut both of them.

With Hiccup's clothing and knife safely out of the way, and his body immobile under the dragon's firm hold, Toothless' hunger got the best of him. He was certainly much bigger than a fish... he hadn't eaten one like this before, but he was sure he could get him down if he gave it enough time and effort. Leaning down he licked the human's face again, tasting that strange flavor that he found so intriguing. Hiccup's blood was nice, but if his friend had to suffer to give it to him, he would rather just store him in his belly safely; eliminating the need for such crude instruments as that horrible blade.

Moving his head down, Toothless slowly licked over the Viking's feet, finding them a little less tasty compared to the rest of him, but he would put up with it. He didn't want Hiccup to worry, so he took his time, opening his maw slowly and taking one of his feet into his mouth, enjoying the rich Viking taste that filled his maw. This was certainly better than any fish!

The creature didn't let him retrieve his knife-- he only pinned Hiccup tighter and ducked his head, murmuring softly, to touch the tips of his tongue gently to the boy's cheek with a kiss-like sort of tenderness. Hiccup exhaled, nervously, but somewhat relieved-- Toothless clearly didn't want his blood, then. He wanted to do everything he could to sate his best friend, but in all truthfulness he hadn't exactly fancied making few more cuts-- poor Toothless would probably still be starving even if he sucked Hiccup dry. It wouldn't do any good.

Especially if the beast wouldn't offer him any in return.

But then, why... His body all exposed...

He panted nervously, feeling hot puffs of wet steam from Toothless' prodding nose as it snuffled down his body-- he flexed his middle, ticklish and unused to the very bare sensation. He felt paralyzed, a bit, pinned under this massive paw, weak and hungry--once the great head disappeared beyond his chest, he couldn't muster much strength to keep on watching it, until--

He let out an odd noise of surprise, feeling an incredibly odd, hot, tickly sensation embracing his right foot. Toothless was... Hiccup mustered up the energy to try to curl up enough to see-- the beast was nosing curiously at his feet, filling Hiccup's stump of a knee with weird numb sensations as the snout prodded his metal toe, snorted a bit in distaste, and with an odd slippery sensation, as if he were being nibbled by a large, curious, and very warm fish, Toothless' gums slid shut around his right calf, his foot cradled on the hot pillowy tongue deep inside.

Hiccup couldn't help but make an awkward bark of laughter, impulsively trying to jerk his foot out and away, if only to quell that weird, curiously overstimulating sensation. "Whatcha up to, there, Bud?" He tugged again, curiously, but the gums held with impressive strength. "That tickles... Stoppit!"

Toothless replied with a warm murmur and a swipe of his tongue that effectively melted Hiccup's innards, it was so pleasant. Hiccup choked and wheezed, not particularly strong enough to break down laughing, but he squirmed regardless, playfully tightening his toes against the soft friendly tongue, releasing, and tightening again, before shaking his leg and trying to release it again. It was amazing how tightly those soft gums could grip him-- and Toothless wouldn't let go.

"Toothless," Hiccup wheezed, amused. "That's mine. Give it back." He gently laid the toe of his prosthetic between the beast's eyes. "This one's detachable from the rest of me at least--" He shook his right leg again, chuckling at the beast's weird determination to hold him fast. "Oh, I know, I know, that's the good one, though, huh?"

At least he's not fighting too much, Toothless thought as he got a taste for the Viking, frowning a little as he saw Hiccup's fake left leg between his eyes. Deciding that wouldn't be much good in his stomach either, he released Hiccup's right leg and held him in place, wrapping his jaws around the fake leg and slowly pulling. Hiccup seemed to be laughing, so Toothless assumed the human wasn't angry at him anymore; still, he couldn't trust him until he had him inside his gut. Then he'd find a way off this island himself.

"Toothless, what are you..." he heard the young man ask before he managed to disconnect the prosthetic leg from the rest of the human. Tossing it aside (for the metallic taste was not very appealing), the Night Fury then continued with the task at hand. He gave Hiccup a small lick on the face, trying to reassure him that he was just doing this for a good reason, before going back down, this time taking Hiccup's leg into his maw once more.

He went further this time; allowing the thin, scrawny leg to slide down into the back of his mouth. The half-leg soon followed, and in mere moments he had both of Hiccup's legs secured inside his hungry mouth. That would be the easy part, at the very least. He waited for a few moments, looking up at the confused Viking with his large green eyes, his tongue rolling over the succulent taste of live human with ravenous intent.

He made a small gulping noise, one that Hiccup recognised from the day they met; the noise the black dragon had made when it had wanted him to swallow the regurgitated fish. It seemed innocent enough, but as the reptile slowly pulled another inch of his legs into his large maw, a flicker of recognition for his situation was beginning to dawn on the oblivious Hiccup. As the toes on his right foot slowly sunk into the warm, fleshy throat of the dragon, he began to understand what was happening.

Toothless gripped him, and there was a queer tug, pulling Hiccup across the ground. The boy's heart made a weird leap, unseating his entire weak, exposed body, causing his vision to blur, even as he blinked rapidly, trying to take in what exactly Toothless was trying to do. His eyes crossed, uncrossed, traced slowly up the leg of the dragon holding him in place-- his left knee smarted dully from being forcibly removed-- why?-- and his right leg was... That had been a gulp. Toothless had-- swallowed it...

Hiccup pulled a face, but the dragon wasn't looking up at him-- it was concentrating wholeheartedly on his body, his tail twitching interestedly.

Unsettled, and infuriated at his weird starving inability to give anything due focus, Hiccup tried to prop himself up on his elbows and tug his legs away. Those wonderfully powerful gums were pinching his knees almost painfully tight, and when he tried to tuck up his thighs to pull them loose, the dragon held fast.

"T-Toothless...? Um..."

The dragon paid no response, except to writhe its tongue around his legs.

"Toothless!" Hiccup barked, more sharply. "What are you--? Are you--?"

His stomach turned to ice as a terrible thought hit him. Was the dragon trying to... eat him? Impulsively, he jerked harder at the leg. "Toothless! Hey! Stop! Quit playing around-- I--"

No. No way. Toothless wouldn't...

But the beast was cold, the eyes almost yellow as they narrowed in primal concentration, the friendly toothless mouth if anything tugging him deeper along, deeper... inside--

Hiccup took a sharp breath and went completely tense, his ribcage shuddering with huge wild gulps of air. No. It wasn't possible. This couldn't... Toothless wouldn't-- do that. Not to him, not--

He knew that knife had been a bad idea. Hiccup's blood may not ever be enough to satisfy the wild beast-- it had only intensified the creature's hunger-- but his body... his flesh and bone and everything inside... his body would at least give the beast's belly something to push around. And the dragon could so easily, gulp, gulp, gulp--

"No!" Hiccup blurted, his stomach turning to ice. And yet it all seemed so clear, the way he'd been skinned, his leg mysteriously removed--

The adults had always said a dragon could never be trusted. Dragons were selfish, incapable of gratitude.

But Toothless had always been the exception. Toothless had risked his own life to pull Hiccup from the Red Death's blazes. He had spared Hiccup at every other opportunity he'd had to easily tear him apart.

But, somehow, something had changed. Was it just desperate hunger, or had the beast been playing games all along?

His best friend had full intention to murder him right on this rock, not even caring that it meant he would never leave it.

Unawares that his best friend thought he was deliberately trying to end his life, Toothless continued on with his consumption of the small Viking, feeling Hiccup start to wriggle under his strong grip, attempting to escape. He wanted to tell Hiccup that it was all okay, and that he was just going to satisfy his hunger before letting him out again, but his lack of common language meant that he was left to simply eat him before he could get his wits about him.

His large tongue helped guide the human's body slowly into him, wrapping around his lower thighs as he drew the legs a little deeper into his throat. He had expected Hiccup to be a mouthful, but it looked like he would only just fit. He used the rock for leverage, pressing Hiccup's struggling body against the flat, smooth surface as he attempted to press him down into the churning depths of his hungry belly.

Hiccup attempted to grip the rock, finding no purchase amongst the smooth, wind-chiseled surface. Toothless continued to focus, trying to give an apologetic look to the frantic human as he continued to swallow him down. The taste was amazing; he hadn't expected his partner to taste this good; just a benefit to add to the fun the dragon was having watching Hiccup wriggle about like... well, a fish.

Silly human, Toothless thought to himself, you'd think I was trying to kill him. Another large gulp sent the young boy's right (and intact) leg deeper into his throat, up to the knee. Now the dragon had to maneuver the other leg to slide in next to it, something he attempted skillfully with his dexterous tongue. Eventually he managed to seal the other leg inside his throat too, his mouth now over Hiccup's upper thighs.

The Night Fury was taking his time, but only because Hiccup was a difficult size for him to take down when he had no used to it. His determined green eyes told the story to Hiccup, however: he wanted the boy inside him.

Hiccup scrabbled at the ground helplessly-- there was nothing to grab, nothing to throw, his knife was far out of reach, and every time he tugged himself away, the dragon would tug him back three times as hard. His ribs dissolved, corroding his stomach as he looked up into the dragon's face, only to see the eyes, those dynamic, expressive eyes that used to be such portals to the amazing creature underneath, lazily, almost amusedly monitoring him.

Hiccup shrieked in agony. He hated that stare-- he whipped his arm toward Toothless as if he were throwing an invisible rock, and violently threw himself to the side, trying to twist himself onto his stomach. "Let GO!" he howled angrily, flopping and tugging as fiercely as he could, but it was worth nothing-- another swallow, and nearly half of him had disappeared, his legs clenched entirely inside that big mysterious mouth, and his pelvis sort of twinging unpleasantly as if it knew it was next. He shut his eyes, wailing as he felt his bare foot squish so easily down through tear-jerkingly, painfully lovely-feeling pillows of silk and velvet, the deep inside of a dragon so unbearably, seductively, inescapably hot--

He gagged for the first time of many, choking on bile, but there was nothing left in his stomach to spill but a tablespoon of clear, sour slop.

Toothless was going to eat him. Was eating him. Killing him. Not ripping happily into his quivering organs like he would a fresh-caught deer-- not snapping him into easy chunks like he sometimes did the larger fish, but... swallowing him alive, like... Toothless didn't just want to sate his hunger on a meager mouthful of available human meat. Toothless wanted him, HICCUP. ALL of Hiccup, pale flesh and ribcage and shuddering guts, hair and dreams and schemes and toenails, all of it, all of it compacted down somewhere mysterious and dark, just out of sight, just out of reach of his toes...

A dragon's stomach. Churned dead in a dragon's stomach-- you'll be--

"LET ME go--!" he yowled helplessly, his Viking pride wounded upon opening his eyes and finding the corners of them watering wet, finding himself wheezing dangerously as he refused to sob. "Don't do this, Bud-- please--! Come on--!"

Toothless' name echoed through his own mind; hearing Hiccup speak his name always comforted him, and right now it had almost the same effect, even if he knew it was being used in annoyance.

Don't worry, Hiccup, the dragon thought, you'll be safe now, I'll get us out of here... somehow. He took another loud swallow, pulling the small, fur-less human deeper towards his possible fate. His struggles were inconsequential; the dragon was a Night Fury, and his strength would not be denied.

He could feel another few inches of the young Viking slide down into his throat, his mouth now securely around his friend's waist, knees entering his ever-ravenous throat. The muscles lining his rippling esophagus were sumptuously soft around the human's feet and legs; any part of his lower body not covered by his pants was being bathed in a slick coating of saliva. If it hadn't been for the destination awaiting him, Hiccup could have found enjoyment in the tender massage.

Yet, the process would not halt: Toothless continued to swallow him down without hesitation, ignoring his pleas, cries and struggles for freedom. Why couldn't the human see he was doing this for his own good? Eager now to stop the hunger gnawing at his insides, Toothless forced more of his best friend's body inside of him, engulfing his thighs in one heart-stopping gulp, his mouth resting lightly on the Viking's scrawny belly.

With every passing swallow, drawing him deeper and deeper inside, Hiccup found it harder and harder to deny it anymore-- It didn't matter how uncharacteristic, how weird, how unfair it was-- Toothless fully intended to swallow him up, and was doing so with all the happy enthusiasm with which he attacked a far more innocent dinner of a pile of fish.

Is that what Hiccup had become, to the poor, desperately hungry beast? A floppy, fishy full stomach?

The touch of the gums as they closed firmly, possessively around his belly instantly nauseated him, the hot mouth making him gag uselessly again as it squeezed and formed curiously along his lower half, the tongue probing everywhere as it sought to slicken everything, acclimating his stubborn body to the soaking slimy wet that would characterize his new, final home.

Hiccup had halfway disappeared, though his missing half was far from numb-- indeed, he could feel too much; shifting slime and voracious, longing, starving pillowy-soft gullet muscle, and a thick, heavy heartbeat that was quickly trying to encroach on his own.

Close to Toothless' terrible musing muzzle, now, Hiccup reached wildly to touch the beast's face, bitterly pushing at the fast-clinging jaws. "Toothless--!" Hiccup wheezed, his voice cracking. "Let me go-- please, you've got to, you've got to let me go, you can't do this, you can't--" he choked and swallowed bile in disgust, his throat constricted so much from trying not to cry, that he could barely breathe-- he didn't want to breathe, didn't want to feel his body pressing into those stiff, possessive gum-ridges-- involuntarily he gasped, swelling himself. "I know you're hungry, we're both-- I know-- but-- If you... I don't want--" He shoved harder at the Night Fury's cheekbones, daring to try to slip his fingers in under the clinging gums, and then-- he swallowed hard, pressing his knuckles desperately, roughly into the beast's eyes. "Just-- let me go. I'll find a better way to feed you, just-- please, please don't do this. You know I'm not even worth it anyway, you stupid reptile-- Come... ON! Let me...GO!"

He didn't want to have to face that reality behind the jaws-- he was still nursing some stubborn idea that perhaps, perhaps this all was still just a game, Toothless just playing. Because if it wasn't--

He would end up in Toothless' stomach. It was a weird, impossible thought. Toothless' belly. Him inside it. Somewhere behind that sleek, trim middle, behind that leathery skin so particularly sensitive to strokes and scratches, where he had once laid his head against bulges of fish and somehow never thought twice about what it might be like to be a fish, wrestled alive down into the darkness. Hiccup couldn't breathe water. If Toothless... swallowed him, and entirely... would he, could he, even survive down into the dragon's belly? Or would he suffocate on his way down?

He hoped so. A dragon's belly-- Toothless' belly-- would be... He couldn't bear to think about it. So dark and small. He refused to go.

He pushed his knuckles hard into the beast's huge, vulnerable eyes. "I'm sorry, but-- you can't eat me, Bud, you just-- can't!"

A growl escaped Toothless' lips as his eyes were attacked by his human, the sudden intrusion making him close them quickly. He hadn't expected Hiccup to be quite this wriggly; and his jaws loosened their hold upon the young Viking as a result of the distraction. He felt Hiccup push against his snout, trying to take advantage of the opening he had created to leverage himself out of the dark depths of the reptile's throat. It was a nice attempt, but the voracious dragon would not be shaken so easily.

Pushing forward with his powerful hind legs, Toothless forced his partner's body back inside of him, this time sinking a large quantity of Hiccup inside his throat. The human yelled in surprise, but it did not matter anymore; his arms were pinned inside the tight walls of the undulating throat, and the dragon's mouth was slowly covering his chin as it sought to engulf him completely

Toothless smiled inwardly; he had him completely pinned down now. Hiccup's foot was almost entering his stomach, and he intended to send the entire Viking package down there with it. Finally, after much effort, he would be able to enjoy his meal completely.

Sorry Hiccup, the dragon thought to himself, but you wouldn't want me to starve would you? Just bear with me... just for a little while.

Hiccup, unable to see the dragon's uneducated point of view, finally understood exactly where he was going, and just how little he could do to stop it. As the large tongue rolled over his face he tried not to swallow the sticky saliva, finding it difficult as he could no longer wipe it from his face. He fell silent now as he was pulled in deeper, his head sliding between those massive jaws as he was consumed by the one he had thought would never bring him to harm.

Managing to take one more quick glance upwards, he caught a glimpse of the sky before his vision was suddenly smothered by Toothless' throat, which had finally managed to pull him completely inside. Toothless could feel the human in his throat, his feet slowly breaching the entrance to his stomach. It would take a minute or two, but soon the Viking would be safely and securely tucked away within him, and he could then rest and allow his body to be satisfied by its new inhabitant. Little did he know the horror he was condemning his human companion to deep within that rounded belly.

His desperate attempt at escape was knocked away with such ease. The beast, unable to listen to reason, simply shoved him along inside. Hiccup's struggles for his life were too insignificant to be acknowledged or even given a fair chance. The beast wasn't playing-- this was not a game. In fact, it couldn't be farther from it. Toothless no longer cared about Hiccup as a living, feeling thing-- he was merely a skinny slice of meat, whose existence only mattered from the dragon's tongue, down.

Hiccup's hope was forcibly ripped away from him as his clothes had been-- he went from being halfway inside, to being inescapably up to his neck in the dragon's mouth with one horrible, nauseating, greedy movement of the monster's warm, powerful, pillowy-smooth inner surfaces. Hiccup tried for a third or fourth or fifth time to vomit, the hot mouth horrible, slimy, tickly-- a twisted hell around his bare body, as Toothless' tongue eagerly dipped and dived, covering everything in slime, pulling flavors from his armpits and the small of his back, running up and down his thin, bony chest as if for the sheer pleasure of feeling the difference between his prominent ribcage and his smooth, soft, nearly nonexistent belly, which twinged and tensed at every touch.

All this hidden behind a stoic black scaled mask of mild pleasure, huge green eyes rounded out almost innocently, injecting puffs of hot, dry air into Hiccup's lungs from massive nostrils, a strong fishy steam still kept sealed in the jaws beyond.

Hiccup fought for a moment. He tried, flopping and squirming easily in the tight but slippery sock that squeezed him. His fingers, wrapped in down alongside his body, reached, pulled and clawed desperately-- he kneaded helplessly at the bottom wall of the throat, hoping against hope that perhaps that cluster of nerves, that sweet-spot, would still exist on this side of the flesh and turn the dragon to mush all around him.

Then, the flesh around him crushed him powerfully, dragging his head, the last existing bit of him, on into the dragon's mouth, and it was over. It was no use. Hiccup found himself quietly sobbing before he could check himself, even as the acrid, fishy steam of the dragon's breath attacked and stung his eyes. The dragon's tongue pitched dutifully to get him soaked and easy to swallow, tortuously gagging him with thick, clingy slime. Hiccup wanted to shout, or threaten. He wanted to say, "I'm sorry," or "Please--you'll never get off this island alive without me," or "I wish I could be a better meal for you" or "I should've killed you when I had the chance."

But all he could do was whimper incoherently in death, smothered and drowning, mouth and nose full of sticky, salty, fish-protein-saturated slime that both revolted and aroused his weak, starving stomach.

Life became primarily about breath. Longing to breathe, longing to live, he arched himself as far as he could, turning his face toward the dwindling light of outside, still managing to catch little wisps of fresh coolness. Light was air, light was air-- Toothless around him pulsed with a gentle swallow, the strong gullet kneading him along deeper, a process smooth and almost beautiful from inside. The dragon's jaws now only let in a sliver of light, a sliver of air in.

Hiccup turned toward it and squealed in longing-- but one last swallow and the muscles bound and gagged him, thrusting him into the narrow darkness, kidnapping him from his world like a marauding enemy tribe.

Somewhere below, his five toes arched into an empty space as stuffy and piping hot as an oven. Hiccup's heart gave a horrible flutter. It would be so dark and small.

He twisted for the last time in the dark, encased entirely in such tear-jerkingly smooth, silken surfaces, softer than any blanket or pillow he'd ever experienced in his rough barbarian life. Toothless' insides were made of the newest calf leather, stitched together with spider's silk by Nidavellir's finest dwarf craftsmen. Maybe there were worse places to die.

He struggled to breathe, pleased and relieved to find that he couldn't, not at all. He didn't want to die a long, agonizing death in that terrible belly underneath. All he wanted was do disappear. And he was disappearing, fast.

The heat, the sensation, his hunger and exhaustion, and the merciful lack of air overpowered Hiccup's weak body, squeezing the consciousness out of him like the breath in his lungs. For one long, wonderfully empty moment, he was utterly limp, as if dead.

Upon feeling Hiccup's struggles slowly die down, the Night Fury closed his mouth and moved forward, resting against the rock as he allowed his meal to settle. He wondered if Hiccup had maybe fainted; that would be probably best, otherwise he'd just keep struggling. With a loud sigh he tracked the progress of the young man in his throat, feeling deep within him the first bits of him enter his growling stomach.

For Hiccup, even the lack of air would not be enough to put him out completely. He was forced from the dragon's throat in small, peristaltic squeezes, his feet first breaching the tight ring into the dragon's awaiting gut, followed by his right leg, and then his left. The sizable reptile's body wasted no time in forcing the Berk villager into its depths, his waist sliding into the stomach soon after.

By this stage, Hiccup was light on air, and was unable to keep his body in a sustained state of awareness, unconscious for the time being. Toothless used this time to squeeze the last of the Viking's body from his throat, Hiccup's body curling into a fetal position inside the welcoming, deadly belly of the dragon.

Somewhat exhausted by the effort, Toothless lay down against the smooth stone, looking over the subtle bulge in his belly that contained his friend. His only thoughts were of the hunger that Hiccup could satisfy, unaware that he would also be condemning him to hell in the process.

Now fully ingested and tucked away beneath the light scales of the dragon's underbelly, Hiccup found himself reawakening to his surroundings. One feature of the Night Fury specifically is their ability to draw oxygen from the lining of their stomach, making it possible for the young, trapped human to breathe. His eyes opening slowly, it took a moment for the Viking to understand exactly where he was, until he took a deep breath of desperately-needed oxygen and almost gagged on the horrifying stench of the dragon's gut.

Hiccup tried to move but couldn't; his body tucked tightly into the fleshy bag that contained his scrawny form. Thick ooze pooled around his lower body, various liquids pressed into him from all sides by the lightly-flexing stomach. The smell was unimaginable, yet it was not the scent which worried Hiccup the most. As he realised where he was, what he was sitting in, and how little he could do about it, the one thought he had been trying to keep away now fell to the forefront of his mind: he had become food.

Hiccup was surprised that he had awakened at all. He was baffled by the harsh, sour smell that had brought him back to, like sulfur fumes. His eyes stung, and for a moment he wondered if he had been blinded, until he realized he was simply somewhere quite dark. And, by some cruel joke, he was still breathing,which meant-- was this-- where was he, why couldn't he move--?

Impulsively he pushed outward with his arms and legs, only to find he was surrounded completely, stretching the walls of a very small, very hot, squashy, wet chamber-- he yelped in surprise as the velvety surface responded, tensing curiously, as if it was alive and could feel him.

He knew it was.

His innards melted, almost instantly distilling themselves into a new gush of shameful tears. He had somehow survived-- he was being squeezed meal-shaped here, inside his best friend's belly. He pulled sharply from the walls as much as he could, though they sucked in around him, and desperately curled up tight, wrapping his arms feebly around his bare body and head in some half-hearted hope that it would protect his vulnerable skin.

Terrified and helpless, he wheezed, so very aware of the slick, bitter juices trickling over his shoulders. Toothless had been so hungry, his stomach was already waking up and oozing wet-- it rippled contemplatively, feeling something heavy and solid inside now, and somewhere deeper down within the dragon, a knot of intestine squealed in excitement, thirsty for a good wash of Viking blood soup.

"T-Toothless!" he croaked weakly. "You can't--" This place was so small, so perfectly small, round and smooth, and-- he couldn't help but notice-- perfectly Hiccup-sized. It was as if Toothless had been missing a piece, and Hiccup had been born to fit in the space, curled up so tightly and trapped so completely, refusing him the ability to stretch out and assert his right to be a separate and different creature. He was a piece of something bigger, and his own fate now was not his.

Hiccup swallowed hard. Something was being stolen from him. These walls were so expressive and sensitive and soft-- surely he could simply reach out and tear messages into the walls with his fingernails. He suddenly sensed it was important to move while his limbs still could-- with an abrupt howl of horror, he threw out his elbows and kicked out with his foot, trying to be BIGGER, trying to tear himself free, trying to wear the walls red. He tossed and rolled between the uncannily perfect, smooth, seamless walls, hardly able to feel where he had come in or where his remains would drain away if he couldn't escape.

All he could feel was Toothless' stomach dutifully basting and bathing him, dead set in the queer occupation of keeping him entirely, soaking wet-- Hiccup's presence had already created a thick, soupy pool of eagerly-secreted juices. He could feel his touch waking up the walls as if they were all made of thin sponge, going immediately gooey at his fingertips, rendering scratching and clawing simply impossible.

"Toothless!!" he shrieked, unable to tell air from water-- it was all the same scalding temperature. "Get me out of here! Let me out! Come on, please, you have to!"

The squirms and wriggles coming from inside the Night Fury's swollen belly were sending shivers of pleasure up the dragon's spine. He hadn't expected the human to taste and feel that good; he was glad he had decided to eat him. Originally he had intended to work on finding a way off the island, but now that Hiccup was nestled deep into his body he found himself rather sluggish. The young Viking weighed a bit more in his gut than he had thought.

He could hear the young man's seemingly muffled cries of displeasure at his new situation, but he didn't really find them bothering; Hiccup had always been quick to complain about situations he found difficult, and the dragon just assumed he was being his usual, whiny self.

The dragon decided he'd just sleep it off instead. By the time he woke up, he was sure he wouldn't feel hungry anymore. Laying his head down against his side, he curled up and tried to close his eyes. He could already feel his body happily reacting to the young male inside, and this allowed him to rest comfortably, even despite the wriggles which came so futilely from his gut.

Hiccup, on the other hand, was not so pleased with his situation. His body was being coated in the dragon's stomach slime, which was no doubt preparing him for the merciless onslaught of digestion that was soon to follow. The smell was beyond anything he had ever imagined; it was thick and heavy with bile and enzymes. The stomach flexed and relaxed, almost in time with the powerful beats of the reptile's heart.

His body was being repeatedly squeezed and released by the powerful stomach muscles, just another threat to his personal wellbeing. Hiccup didn't know much of what would happen within this deep, dark place, but he knew enough to know his body would be destroyed mercilessly by the uncaring gut of the dragon he once thought would never do anything of the sort. His friend... Toothless... churned up inside his horrid belly.

Hiccup was forced to pause in his violent struggle, as his breathlessness, exhaustion, starvation and bruised body all caught up with him, leaving him a desperately gasping mess in the pit of the dragon's warm belly. He bit his lip, tears leaking, limbs pressed pleadingly to the walls. The rippling soft stomach felt so soothing on his worn muscles, so lovely and smooth on his bare body... Indeed, in spite of his raging horror, Hiccup started to have half a mind to sleep there, all curled up in this perfect space, in the warm darkness. His vision was splotched with red and green spots, a familiar sight-- his weak little heart was about to overextend itself again, and if he didn't sleep, he would faint, a limp compliant meal for Toothless to push about for a while, then knead, then churn, then peacefully slosh and drain away.

It certainly would be better that way-- he would pass out, and be dead before he came to, and that would be that.

But in a sudden change of decision, Hiccup took a gulp of bitter air so quickly and violently he gagged and was forced into a coughing fit. He wouldn't give up-- he wanted to LIVE. He desperately, stubbornly, wanted to live, and Toothless wouldn't take that away from him, not if he could help it.

For a long moment, Hiccup rode the steady, rhythmic ripples of the dragon's digestion-pondering stomach, scraping together what survival plans he could from nothing. There wasn't much he could do, but he HAD to do something!

Had to do something QUICKLY. Hiccup started, hearing a curious gurgle rumble from the guts beyond, and as the fatigue of his burst of struggling slowly dimmed, it was replaced with a new, odd sensation, like an uncomfortably strong, humming tingle, starting at his sensitive places- between his toes, over his palms, under his arms, breaching his tightly-shut eyelid somehow (probably through his tears) to bury itself into his left eye-- and spreading, steadily yet very, very slowly, to waver lightly across his entire thin body, somehow managing to become a dull aching hum even in his bones. He wheezed, feeling it nipping hungrily at the fresh wound on his shoulder. Helplessly, he scrabbled against the back wall, trying to raise himself from the liquid, but Toothless' belly WAS liquid, and there was nothing he could do to escape it.

This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all.

Upon feeling the soft scrabbles against his insides, Toothless huffed in annoyance, wishing the little human would just settle down. He was sure he wouldn't feel less hungry until Hiccup stopped moving about like a restless fish. He was completely unaware that he would only feel less hungry when Hiccup was little more than a thick human soup pumping through his intestines.

Wanting to just sleep, he listed his head and nudged his belly softly, trying to almost signal to the erratic Viking that he wanted him to settle. When that didn't work, he growled and tensed his stomach muscles.

The reaction was almost instantaneous; deep inside of his smooth-black scales, the previously loose cocoon of stomach flesh contracted powerfully around Hiccup's light frame. The young man gasped as his body was contracted forcibly into a small ball, the stomach compressing him from all angles. The acidic enzymes were forced into his skin, making it sting lightly as they worked upon his flesh. The cut upon his shoulder ached terribly, as it was openly exposed to the thick ooze.

Under the smooth, beautiful scales of the dragon's body was a factory of terrifying nature; designed to take intruders such as Hiccup and turn them into unrecognisable nutrients to fuel the Night Fury's majestic body. As his body was squeezed relentlessly by Toothless' irritated compression, he began to really consider the possibilities if he couldn't escape. It was clear he would not be able to endure the coming digestion peacefully; he would either have to find a way to escape, or spend an hour or two being tortured within the dozing dragon's gut.

He couldn't help but begin to imagine the grim possibilities of his future, something the young Viking did often when he was in a panic. He could see the stomach slowly breaking him down; acids melting his flesh as the stomach crushed his body into little more than a slop of dragon-food.

Hiccup started in surprise, hearing a small, annoyed cluck from the dragon around him. The sound was so loud and echoy inside, the vibration of the beast's exasperated noises shaking the pillowy space and Hiccup's eardrums.

"--Bud--?" he gasped, but the beast's low rumble drowned him out. Hiccup shoved the wall, very intentionally, trying to get another response.

So the beast COULD consciously feel him-- he couldn't damage these fleshy walls, but Toothless did know he was there, scolding his Hiccup in his usual dragony way- a way Hiccup was sure was meant for him specifically, not a belly full of meat, not a pile of limp fish, not even a live clutch of young dragons. Toothless was saying, don't touch me, I'm trying to sleep, exactly as he had so many times before when Hiccup had been outside, before the lines between he and Toothless and life and death had become so confusingly blurred.

It was a flicker of hope. Toothless, not only his wild, impulsive body, but the conscious dragon himself, knew he was there. Toothless could feel him. Toothless knew he was still Hiccup and not just meat. Surely that had some value. If Toothless could feel him, maybe Hiccup could somehow convince the beast to let him free.

Hiccup got his response-- another sleepy growl, and then-- he yelped-- the walls sucking in tight all around him, in an all-too-clear HOLD STILL. For a moment, shocked, Hiccup obeyed, panting hard out of the corner of his mouth that wasn't pressed tightly into the sour-bitter layer of thick slime against the firmly clenched wall, his eyes smarting from the goo kneaded into them. He certainly couldn't move very much like this-- which, he realized, was probably the dragon's intent.

Hiccup never had never really planned on capturing and swallowing his own live prey, and very likely never would (even if he DID make it out of this alive), but he couldn't help but find himself wondering if his own innards were capable of such a sort of minute, voluntary action. Perhaps it was something only a great massive predator, subsisting on all sorts of wriggling meals (which Hiccup was sure would feel pretty weird in the belly sometimes) was able to do.

He almost smiled, even as he trembled, the stomach walls borderline crushing him with their tightness. If Toothless would put out this much effort to keep him still, then all his movements were clearly irritating the dragon something significantly.

The key to staying alive, then, was to keep moving, focusing all the beast's attention on him. If he could do this long enough, then maybe out of sheer annoyance the creature would hack him up again.

He knew he had to work quickly. The tingling on his skin was so intense now it seemed to make his brain itch-- indeed, he couldn't help but squirm, but there was nothing to be done to quell it. It would only get worse.

Hiccup had seen what a dragon's belly could do to something small and fuzzy like him-- a few hours after the old dragon raids, sometimes the shore would be littered with pellets from the marauding beasts. Everything the beast couldn't liquefy and pass along would be squeezed and dejuiced inside its harsh belly and erped up, an ugly, but sometimes oddly ambergrised lump of fuzz and scales, claws and toenails and heaps of tangled, bleached-white bones too big to pass the intestine, that the Vikings would sometimes wrestle free and carve runes and things upon.

That's what this acid bath would do to him, if he couldn't appeal to the beast's better nature. It would snap him and grind him, crush him and churn him and wear all of his soft messy parts away until all that was left was a bit of fuzz and fingernails and a delicate, tangled skeleton of slender bleached-white bones, bones so thin and narrow they'd probably dissolve completely or pass right along unnoticed.

Not that it would matter, even if if his little femurs managed to escape without the rest of him. There was no human on this rock to carve a prayer to Odin into him or turn him into a tankard handle.

But most of all, he worried that there wouldn't even be a Toothless much longer after that either. Saving his own life was saving Toothless' life.

Stubbornly, he grit his teeth and buried his elbows hard into the firm walls, then began fighting again, with all his strength, jabbing with his elbows and knees.

He couldn't give up. Not now.

With a loud growl of displeasure, Toothless looked down at the smooth belly scales, watching the wriggling lump with a very unimpressed expression. So the human wanted to make a nuisance of himself? Fine.

He got to his feet slowly, deciding that he would have to try and find a way off the island before the kicking and complaining got too much to bear. As the Night Fury took his first step forward, he found himself staggering a little to the left, thrown off balance by the squirming weight in his stomach. He snorted; even inside of him he couldn't entirely control the rowdy Viking.

As he attempted another step a small realisation came to him: he couldn't move properly with the weight within him. Having only eaten fish his entire life, it came as a surprise to Toothless that his body was unable to handle an entire human, even one as small as Hiccup was compared to his burlier, surlier Viking counterparts. Unable to get enough momentum to fly, or even move correctly, the black-scaled reptile slowly sat back down and looked at his belly, wondering what he could do.

He had only wanted to help, and prevent the foolish human from injuring one or both of them in his hunger. Little did he know he was doing exactly the same thing. His stomach was really heating up now; the digestive enzymes were breaking down the young man's skin, and his stomach was crushing Hiccup with enough force to nearly dislocate his fragile bones. On the outside, Toothless did not comprehend any of this.

If Hiccup was going to make it impossible for him to function, then he was going to have no choice. The Viking would have to come out... even if he hadn't satisfied his hunger. It was a shame, but he believed he could just gorge on fish later on... not the best substitute for fresh Hiccup, but it would do. For now, however, his irritation at the disobedient human inside his gut left him determined to keep him inside, at least for a while longer. Maybe it would teach him to quiet down a little.

It was working. Hiccup's body was hot and weak with exhaustion, his skin feeling oddly scratchy, and his head empty and numb, but soon he could feel the beast moving uncomfortably around him, making displeased noises.

Hiccup was giddy, unsettled by how quickly, now, he could feel things happening to his body-- and now he was going to be let out. He knew it. He could feel it in the way the belly and the muscles outside it contorted unhappily around him, the way Toothless was moving now, rolling him bodily around within the small pouch.

"Let me out, Bud!" he squealed eagerly, trying to stretch the walls with his elbows. "Come on! Quickly! Hurry! It'll hurt me! It's hurting me! Please, Toothless--!"

The dragon paused contemplatively. Hiccup ached for a breath of clear, clean air, and he was SO close, so close to being released-- "Quick, Toothless--!"

And then, Hiccup yowled in incredible pain- the dragon hadn't moved to release him- rather, the stomach shuddered hesitantly for a moment, then unabashedly entered its next phase of churning, closing in so quickly and completely that he felt half his joints pop painfully, his back starting to sear as if the stomach wall had been a hot brand.

It was only a quick jerk of the muscle, but Hiccup was left reeling to recover from it, his body screaming now-- he opened his mouth to wheeze--

--and screamed in agony again, as the belly squashed him again, forcing the air out of him and threatening to snap every bone in both his hands and foot.

He drew in a deep breath as it released again as quickly as it had come-- "Stoppit, Toothless!" he wailed--

And just as quickly was choked away, the stomach squeezing even more tightly as it churned, slamming his knees against his ribcage.

He couldn't continue fighting-- he was forced to go limp, in hopes that the stomach would find it harder to crush him as it indifferently churned along, not concerned at all that he was a little, significant life. He was only something to crush and maim, a huge hunk of something in the belly, something that would feel so much better all smoothed out, smashed into a soft runny paste.

Meanwhile the walls around had taken on a fiery, burning flesh smell, and before Hiccup could catch up mentally and comprehend what was happening, the liquid splashing over him had turned to fire-- the walls around him had heated up like a boiling cauldron, and almost all at once, their hungry liquid finally breached his defenses, molten iron on his cut shoulder and fall-scraped back, sparkling eagerly over his as-yet unopened skin.

Hiccup made a horrible, undignified, shrill noise in agony as the walls curled around him again, searing him, pounding him into shape. As a blacksmith's apprentice, he understood this concept all too well-- Toothless was forging his little rider into a new shape, heating him malleable, then mercilessly pounding him, heating and pounding, heating and melting and searing and pound, pound, pound. Just as he had carefully melted down that sword and shield to become Toothless' new tail, so Hiccup himself would be melted, to take on some exciting new shape, reinforcing Toothless' powerful wing-muscles, becoming an enriching substance in the blood he had tried to drink for that very same nutritional power.

Pound. Snap. Hiccup took a breath, but couldn't release it in a scream no matter how badly he wanted to- one enthusiastic, hungry squeeze of the now-rabid stomach had cracked a pair of his ribs.

That was about when he knew this was how he would die. A few more squeezes like that, a few more moments burning and melting in this terrible sour soup, and his body would be irreparable, boiling or falling apart.

Somehow he found the strength not to give up. Instead, he reached out pleadingly to the horrible hostile walls, by some bizarre miracle remembering that he LOVED these walls. He loved Toothless. He loved this belly and the dragon it belonged to. And Toothless must've really needed him, if he'd resorted to swallowing his very best friend.

Toothless would never have another meal. Hiccup would be his last.

Hiccup mourned for the inevitable fate of his beast, but he bit his lip, even as the boiling acid eagerly flowed, singing his tongue, his eyes.

With the last of his strength, he moved to adoringly rub and stroke the walls around him, even as they tore at his fingers, even as the continuous pounding threatened to break both his arms, even as his vision went red and green, promising him the relief of a faint before his life began to be torn away sinew by sinew.

"Thanks, Bud," Hiccup hissed through burning and tears, sure Toothless would never hear him. "I'm sorry for... Thanks... T-thanks..."

Somehow, he knew.

Toothless could feel the struggles subsiding withing him slowly, becoming weaker with every second. Hiccup's voice had changed, too; it didn't seem it's normal, angry self... but more subdued... this worried the dragon greatly. Unsure how he knew, he could tell Hiccup was not just upset with being in his stomach, it was hurting him.

Snapping to action, Toothless stood, feeling the weight of the human sink to the bottom of his stomach. Small popping noises could be heard within him, and the dragon panicked as he understood that his partner was being injured. Pushing himself flat to the ground he heaved with all his strength, with much more force than he had when bringing up the fish for him to eat on those first few days he had spent with the Viking.

Wondering briefly if Hiccup's struggling for all that time had made him hurt himself, he decided that it was time to get him out immediately. He could feel his stomach muscles flexing, just as he did each time he brought up a fish that was disagreeing with his appetite, but found that it would require much more strength to remove the human from his belly.

Flicking his large tail with concentration, the Night Fury began to push Hiccup out of his stomach, feeling his body pressing against the tight ring which had held him in previously. It parted slowly, allowing Hiccup's head to slip through and back up into his throat. The dragon didn't particularly like this part; food was not very nice when it came from this direction, it was much more fun going down. Hiccup didn't seem to be struggling at any rate, which made it much easier to manoeuvre him back up and out.

It seemed to take forever, but finally his stomach was a Viking-free zone, and he could feel Hiccup's head poking back through his throat. From there it was a much easier action to simply lean forward and have him slide from his sloppy maw, the dragon shaking his head in disgust as Hiccup finally slipped from between his jaws and back onto the flat stone ground, coated from head-to-toe in his juices.

Looking back down now that the taste of bile had gone away for the moment, he realised that Hiccup wasn't looking very well, certainly not as good as he'd hoped. What had happened in there... had he hurt his human by mistake? He looked closer and saw that the Viking's skin, while intact, was red-raw, like it had been whipped over every inch. The Night Fury swallowed unhappily, nudging the young man's side in real anxiousness, hoping he was just out of it, and not...

Hiccup, he thought, please... I didn't mean... what happened in there... Hiccup...

Hiccup melted.

He didn't know what was happening anymore, but he felt himself being sucked away, his limp body unfolded and stretched out. He decided this must be fainting, or dying-- the hell of Toothless' belly disappeared away under his toes, and now he was pulled somewhere that felt so cool and soothing on his skin in comparison-- he had been tugged from his body and into the ether, killed in his dragon's belly, his poor flesh too crunched up and torn and kneaded, too impaled on his own bones to be of any further use to him.

Why did it hurt so much to die? His ribs were a ring of pain, and every breath he tried to take in this breathless place was agony. Was this the scorching arm of some Valkyrie wrapped around him as she carried him off to Valhalla?

No. Being eaten was far from a glamorous death. A Valkyrie probably wouldn't condescend to getting her armor smudged, dragging him from the pit of some dragon's belly. He was... he didn't know what he was anymore. It didn't make sense to have a name without a body, and his body belonged to Toothless now-- and yet it seemed so strange, so exhilarating, to entertain the thought that he was Toothless, so big and strong and beautiful.

He made a weak sound as something irritated his eye. It inched and burned and irritated, and-- he realized that it was light. Light, flooding his face and-- he gasped, feeling a cold, pleasant, horrible burn in his lungs. He was ascending into heaven, he was--

With an ugly, wet, slurping noise, he found himself all of a sudden laid out somewhere incredibly bright and cold, not soaring through the air as some weightless spirit, but pinned heavily to bumpy, rough rock, his grated skin burning, his ribs aching horribly...

He was alive. As the cool, fresh, sweet, wonderful air pooled into his lungs, he knew-- he was still alive. He had survived. Toothless had let him free, and his body... his body was hurt, but it was still one piece.

A hot nose nudged him.

Hiccup smiled weakly, his heart swelling.

A puff of air, warm, but not intolerable, tickled across his sensitive bare skin.

Hiccup opened his mouth to try to make a sound, but the only thing that came out was small, quiet, wheezy sobs, each one torture on his broken ribs, but he couldn't help it. He had been so scared. He was still alive. It hurt to be alive, but Toothless had let him live. He whimpered, beginning to shiver in the cool air. Toothless' juices had eaten away skin, not entirely, but enough that his whole body stung sensitively to the grit underneath him and the tongues of wind above. The juices that clung to him still had half a mind to keep working, stinging, without the backup of those boiling hot walls.

Hiccup winced. The juices clung to him, still claiming him as theirs. He'd do anything to wash them off, but-- he was so weak, there was nothing to be done. He hissed at the thought of the cold ocean salt on his raw body, stinging tears escaping his eyes only partly out of agony as his eyes watered heavily to clean themselves of acid. He wondered if he still HAD eyes-- they stung so much... surely he had been blinded... but-- he had seen LIGHT, right? He remembered that. There was light.

Testing, he opened a single eye. The light was like sandpaper, his vision blurred, but he could still see-- a fuzzy halo of light, and a big dark shape hovering above him. He shut it again.

"H-h-hey, Bud..." his throat whistled thinly. He raised a couple fingers toward the beast, then dropped them-- too heavy.

As Hiccup finally showed signs of life, Toothless let out a small whimper of concern, seeing that he was so weak and fragile that he was on the brink of the void. He wondered what was inside of him that could have done such a thing, but that thought passed almost immediately as he saw the small eyelids flicker open.

Hiccup! he found himself wanting to shout, and he nuzzled the boy's side softly, trying to let him know... let him understand, that he had just been trying to help. With his large tongue he began to clean the Viking off, taking the layer of muck that had been left upon him and spitting it out over to the side. It tasted horrid, but Toothless realised that he had probably been bathed in it for ages, and it was the least he could do.

Once he looked a little more presentable, and less like a regurgitated fish, Toothless sat back and allowed Hiccup to have some space. The young man grunted weakly and slowly tested his limbs, looking as if he had forgotten how they had worked. Toothless was oblivious to the fact that his own growling gut had pulverised them almost to the point of rendering them useless.

As Hiccup gained his senses, he slowly began to attempt to sit up. Toothless moved in, bringing his head down and allowing the man to hold onto him for support. He could see that the Viking would struggle on his own, much like the baby dragons when they first hatched. Lifting an arm Hiccup wiped his eyes, the dragon watching as he winced from the acids that had threatened to ruin his vision. He was glad Hiccup was okay.

The Viking winced as he tested his body for injury; aside from the acids it felt like he had a broken rib, and his joins were all stiff from the beating they had been subjected to. His skin would heal, the broken rib would mend, and his joins would recover... somehow, extraordinarily, he had escaped un-permanently-harmed.

The black reptile looked at him with his large green eyes, giving him a soft lick on the cheek. He had never wanted to hurt Hiccup, and he wanted his best friend to know that. Still, he had felt wonderful inside his belly; it was like he had been designed to fit perfectly inside.

Hiccup was surprised; all it took to pull him back to life were a few rough, loving licks against his bare skin, swiping off a substance so horrible even Toothless himself, who ate all sorts of things flopping or rotten and raw, couldn't seem to stand it. That big tongue seemed to remind Hiccup's body that there had been such a thing as pleasure-- heat that embraced, rather than scorched, roughness that enlivened the skin rather than tore it off, silky sliminess that almost tickled-- it felt so lovely, being tugged, lick by lick, back into the world of the living, restoring blood and functionality to all his limbs.

All of him, by some miracle, had survived, intact.

When Toothless had washed him thoroughly of that bitter mistake, Hiccup found he could move, breathe, see, and even summon the strength to sit up, though his ribs screamed, forcing him to hiss in pain.

"Ow," he grunted, squinting snarkily at his doting friend. He smiled as the creature swiped him on the cheek with a pleading tongue, and wearily, he leaned his arm against the big face so he could scratch the sensitive eye ridges. "I swear," he managed through his teeth, clutching his bruising middle. "You give a dragon an inch... he takes a mile. I told you I wasn't worth it-- all bones, see? Your stomach didn't know what to do with me."

He shivered, knowing he'd be having nightmares about that for a long while. It was a lie, completely-- it was only Toothless' charity that had kept him alive. Unhindered, that stomach would've gladly reduced him to sludge and gravel, all-too-happy to scrape him of even the little meat he did possess.

He supposed this all seemed rather odd to Toothless. Of course the dragon wouldn't be able to understand the workings of his horrible belly. It had all been a misunderstanding. The beast never would've swallowed him, had he understood that it would be so deadly-- Hiccup could see that, in the beast's wide eyes. "It was really dark in there, Toothless," he tried to explain. "REALLY dark. And small. So it... scared me." He tremored, even as he studied Toothless' eyelid intently, running his fingers affectionately over that great face. "I kind of like seeing... and moving. Which is why I kept trying to move, see?"

Toothless purred softly as his friend returned to what seemed his normal self, understanding that the small human hadn't really enjoyed being stuffed into his churning gut. He gave a few small, affectionate licks, before looking out to sea with his wide eyes, as if indicating to Hiccup that he hadn't found a solution himself to escape the island.

Hiccup appeared to clue in immediately, but it would take a few minutes before he would be able to function properly again. His mind had already begun to formulate a plan, but it was hard to think when you had a Night Fury slathering your face with saliva. Toothless didn't care; he was glad the Viking was back to normal, not trying to slash him. His hunger seemed forgotten now; all he wanted was to return to Berk and feast upon fish again.

The black reptile suddenly twitched as Hiccup rubbed around his sensitive spot below his jaw, his tail flicking in pleasure as that spot was rubbed by the human's soft fingers. It was good to have such a caring friend, and he was glad Hiccup had forgiven him for whatever his stomach seemed to have done.

The dragon was oblivious to the fact that his rippling, soft stomach had the potential to convert Hiccup from scrawny Viking to thick, nutrient-filled slop, but Hiccup was now more than aware of the going-ons beneath the smooth coating of jet-black scales. He would ensure that he did not make any return trips in the near future.

Hiccup sighed weakly, staring out seaward. He felt so much better with rich air filling his lungs, with dry forearms, with raw sunlight gently heating his face and hair. It was all certainly an improvement on that terrible environment inside a dragon. But the acid had sort of torn at his wounds, leaving them weeping and crusting, over his shoulder and down his back, and the threads that reminded him he was still alive-- pain, cold, and hunger, hunger most of all, still stitched him heavily to the ground. He didn't know if he would be able to get up.

He shivered. Had it always been so cold? He looked around and found his coat and torn shirt and leg strewn there on the rock. He supposed they were as good a start as any.

Hefting himself to his hands and knees, he crawled laboriously, lurching forward to seize his leg, and tumbling forward onto his side in the process.

"Ow..." he hissed, curling up momentarily in pain. Those broken ribs wouldn't really help.

Grunting and hissing to himself in pain, he writhed and contorted himself for a moment, first pulling his knee up to his chest, leaving him bereft of breath, then bending it back, pointing his phantom toes as far as possible toward the back of his head-- it was there he found it the easiest, without inflaming his now beautifully bruised ribs. As he fastened the screeching metal leg back to his knee, he thanked Thor-- for once, being so small, squeezable and stretchable had proven rather useful.

Well, he supposed it had done wonders to keep him from being broken into a billion pieces in Toothless' stomach, too.

Wearily, he straightened out both legs and lay on his back, his false joint squealing shrilly as he pushed it experimentally against the ground, testing it.

Well, that was out of the way. Of course, he wasn't sure he'd be standing anytime soon.

Still laying there, not wasting energy to turn his head looking, he reached vaguely. "Hey Bud," he moaned. "C'mere. Lemme see that tail..."

Toothless grunted as Hiccup's arms motioned towards his large tail, the human no doubt wanting to take a look at the strange device that allowed him to fly in a straight line. He wasn't entirely sure how it worked, that had always been the Viking's job, so he just trusted Hiccup to handle the apparatus for himself.

Moving closer to the injured man, he swung his large tail around and allowed it to come to a rest in Hiccup's lap, looking down at him with his usual large, green eyes. Hiccup slowly scratched his nose, and he released a small huff of enjoyment, glad that there was no ill will between them.

He could feel the young man's hands against his half-tail, no doubt checking over it to see what condition it was in. After all, the dragon knew that it had been the cause of their crashing into this small island, and he wanted whatever was wrong with it fixed. He remembered back to when they had first attempted to fly together, and his unease at having Hiccup attach that strange device to his tail.

As Hiccup's sharp mind analysed the sections of the tail, Toothless could hear him give a soft sigh, and could feel the Viking's recognition of the problem. Looking down, Hiccup held up a piece of the cord that connected the foot-controller to the tail-fin, and upon closer inspection the black reptile could see that it had frayed and snapped during their long flight. Perhaps the cold in the air had caused the material to become more fragile, and it had snapped under the pressure as a result.

Regardless, Toothless snorted and looked back out to the ocean; he knew little of these things, and would let his human fix it himself. He had been foolish for thinking he could escape himself; he needed Hiccup, more than he had cared to admit. He was glad he had returned from his stomach unharmed, and wondered what would have happened if he hadn't let him out in time.

Hiccup frowned, tugging experimentally at the cord. They'd just been flying so long, the connection had worn right through at the knot where it attached to the tail mechanism. This would be really easy to fix, at least temporarily, even if the wear had happened at both ends. He could just pull it a little more snugly and retie it. It would feel a bit off, and it would take some getting used to for both of them to keep the keel level in the sky, but it was definitely reparable.

Sighing, he grabbed onto the beast's tail and began gently pulling himself up the length of the dragon, pretty sure his small weight was nothing to the beast. Clinging to the sturdy back spikes, he managed to clumsily take to his feet, though his knees almost immediately gave out underneath him. It took him several tries, the leg squealing shrilly, to at least get a grip with his toes as he clung to the edge of the strong wing. He gasped, his ribs aching horribly, and hefted himself over to the beast's neck, nearly falling over it. He hung there a moment, panting with effort, and then wearily began inspecting the more complicated mechanisms up near the foot pedal. His deft, conniving fingers poked and prodded, pulling things and lifting others, occasionally reaching teasingly to tickle at the hot scales underneath the mechanism.

The equipment was all right. The connection to the foot pedal had become bent slightly in a way he really wasn't all too comfortable with (and retying the rope would only throw it off more, probably), but aside from some distinct wear on the cord from this end, things would be fixable enough to get them at least a few more hours of flight out of the equipment.

He would need his knife though.

He turned awkwardly, looking around for that knife, spotting it impossibly far off. At least, out of reach from the dragon's side, which he still seemed to be too weak to leave. He sighed, clinging tightly to the dragon's neck. "I'm going to need that, Bud," he sighed wearily, indicating the glint of metal on the far-off rock.

He'd done repairs all the time with that knife, right up close to Toothless' side. But he wasn't sure now if the dragon would even let the blade near. Hiccup's stomach growled mournfully, remembering that little episode. Figures the only day Toothless WASN'T perpetually trying to feed him something was the day he was so hungry a raw, regurgitated fish would've been an absolute treasure.

Toothless looked over to where Hiccup was gesturing, and he released a small growl as he realised what lay just beside one of the smooth, wind-weathered rocks. That knife... seemed to only cause problems, or so the dragon thought. However, looking at Hiccup in his present state, he knew that the human would be physically unable to attack him again, and as such he felt inclined to allow the human access to the tool. After all, he had used it for a few sensible tasks before, and he knew that Hiccup might need it.

Making sure Hiccup was safely on the ground before moving, Toothless stood and made his way over to the glistening metal, picking it up in his mouth carefully. He turned and walked back over to the young Viking, lowering his head and indicating that he was allowing the man to take it. Hiccup looked surprised, but reached out and closed his fingers around the hilt, making sure not to make any sudden, threatening movements. The last thing he wanted was for Toothless to feel threatened again; he didn't think he would survive a second visit to the crushing depths of his belly.

Toothless lay back down hungrily, eyeing the flowing waves and picturing the assorted fish that may be dancing beneath the frothy sea foam. His belly growled once more, audibly enough that Hiccup could hear it clearly. His ears folded back, Toothless lay his large head down as he felt the young Viking get to work fixing the flying apparatus, trusting him not to do anything foolish with the sharp blade. He needed to conserve energy for their flight, at any rate.

He was glad he had made friends with such a clever Viking; the rest were certainly not up to Hiccup's mechanical standards, that was for sure. He breathed out softly, thinking of his hunger subconsciously; he wondered how Hiccup would have felt if he had not brought him up in time?

The dragon lay prone, allowing Hiccup to address the frayed cord. At least the beast was low enough that accessing most parts of him was fairly easy. Deftly he cut the rope close to its connection up by the neck, retying the knot so the metal would rub against a new section of rope. This was more a precaution than anything. Hiccup hoped it would prevent more problems than it caused. Easy as bread-making.

With a deep sigh, he made to move back toward the other end of the dragon, to where the REAL damage really was. As he heaved and puffed to move, he was grateful he had even this much strength left.

As he passed the beast's middle, a rumble inside made him pause contemplatively. Hiccup was just as hungry. At least the dragon had had some semblance of food, if only a few scrapings and droplets of a skinny human body. Hiccup sighed. He hoped he'd be able to stay conscious long enough to fix them and get back home. It seemed so unfair, how Toothless had handed back that knife all suspicious-like.

Sometimes Hiccup felt like he was only alive to be a gear in a greater mechanism. Sometimes it was a truly exhilarating feeling, but somehow, now, it had become sour.

Hiccup sawed off part of the frayed rope, then wove the frayed parts together with knots, in a taut, rough repair, lengthening up the rope some, then weaving it through its loop and back in on itself, until it was reasonably secure. It definitely wouldn't hold on forever, but Hiccup knew he didn't have forever anyway. All they would have is a few more hours in the sky from here, and if that didn't get them anywhere, he'd probably give out before the equipment did anyway.

With the tip of his knife, he loosened up a couple of threads from the rope and unraveled them back up the dragon, snapping them grimly before letting himself plop heavily to the ground. He panted a moment, recovering from the pain, and then edged himself towards his clothing.

Using the tip of his knife and some clever knotting of the thin thread, he managed to improvise some workable new seams on his dragon-torn clothes. It was long, monotonous work, but having some kind of shirt was the only thing keeping his skin from cracking in the icy sky. He shivered. Had Toothless torn the clothes, expecting him to never come back? All the while, the dragon lay there and sighed nearby, its dark empty stomach calling out, playing games with Hiccup's brain, trying to convince him he belonged there, and any other endeavor was useless.

Grimly, Hiccup wadded his coat in his fist, pulled up his knife, and in a moment of what was probably slight insanity, sliced a small, clumsy triangle in the lamb-leather inner lining near the neck, snapped it free, folded it, and slid it between his back teeth.

Just because Toothless was bigger didn't mean he was the only life worth preserving or the only hunger worth feeding. It was difficult to remember, but it was truth. It would take both of them to survive this.

The leather made his hungry mouth flood wet and his stomach scream. It had a heavy, salty-sweat flavor, from years and years of wear-- and Hiccup couldn't help but realize that it was his taste, likely not all that different from what Toothless had tasted while devouring him. Still, it was all he had been allowed.

Grimly grinding his teeth into it, he slid on his clothes and boot, and reached weakly for the dragon's neck, unable to tell if he was going be able to make it or not.

"All right, Bud," he wheezed. "Let's give this our best shot."

Toothless lowered himself flat, allowing the human to climb onto his back, returning to the position he had held so many times before. The Night Fury didn't mind; after all, it was the only way he could fly properly, so he relied on Hiccup to control his wing more than he cared to admit. Hiccup's strained breathing and desperate hunger were highly apparent now, and Toothless whimpered softly in worry for his injured companion.

It seemed to take an age for Hiccup to actually drag himself up to his riding position, loosely flopping over the dragon's back like a fish out of water.

Mmm... fish...

Toothless' stomach growled, and he knew he too was reaching a sort of breaking point. If Hiccup didn't manage to steer them back home quick enough, then he may not have any choice but to attempt to feed the boy himself. It was nearing night-time now, it was unlikely that the Vikings would be able to give them enough food in time. He only hoped that he would be able to catch some fish when they returned to calmer waters, otherwise Hiccup would be the only source of nutrition available to him.

He was afraid his body wouldn't be able to resist. As Hiccup attatched his leg back into the saddle, and gave it a few test flicks with his foot, the dragon's mind slowly wandered back to the feeling of having the young male human within him. It had felt so good...

They needed to go. Now.

Hiccup tapped his side, and Toothless used all of his energy that still remained, musting up some powerful flaps of his large black wings to send them into the skies. Within seconds they were flying, soaring back up and up, towards where Toothless' nose could detect the faint smells of the Viking homeland of Berk. Hiccup seemed to be managing, although the dragon wondered if the little human felt as hungry inside as he did. He wondered if Hiccup knew how much his body was instinctively driving him to devour him whole. Yet, he couldn't afford to think such thoughts; their friendship was more important to Toothless than his hunger.

Hiccup gnawed the leather absently as they winged together into the air. He was unable to stand in the stirrups as he usually would, moving with every beat of Toothless' massive body underneath him, but his cracked ribs were causing enough agony as it was. He felt half dead already, clinging to Toothless' shoulders.

Guzzling a broth of his own sweat, spit and seasalt was certainly better than nothing. If he didn't think, he could almost pretend that it was actually something of substance, though his stomach continually tested and rejected this notion.

In a way, it was easier not to focus on his stomach up here. Here, there were, arguably, more urgent things to be concerned with. He knew his repairs wouldn't hold them up long, and they were trapped here, out over open seas, with nowhere to land if an emergency came up. They'd simply been lucky, that time.

The tiny rock where Hiccup had been swallowed alive shrank away underneath them, drifted away, and eventually vanished completely over the horizon.

Even though it marked their only safety over this desert sea, Hiccup was all-too-happy to see it go. It was gone, as if it had never been there, as if none of it had ever happened at all.

Soon, it was all just bare ocean, and utter silence, save for breath and wingbeats.

Hiccup found himself panting. Even this more passive flying was getting to him quickly, after all he'd been through. Oh, if he couldn't handle this... They might be taking their plummet much sooner than he thought.

He just gnawed his leather violently, letting Toothless carry him. Hiccup didn't know any more. All he could do was analyze stars, but at this point his eyes were being seared by sunset, and he was pretty sure they were too far gone for him to make any proper judgement. He let the dragon lead.

By some miracle, they managed to fly for an hour. Maybe more. Hiccup's body was screaming, the leather in his mouth beginning to turn into a nourishing mash, finally soft enough to descend in tiny shreds into his not-so-picky stomach, only turning it up to an all-consuming, bubbling boil. It didn't matter, though. His very knees felt like they were about to break, his body exhausted from so long without rest, and it was getting so dark now, he had given up hope of ever catching sight of home again.

He clasped his arms wearily on Toothless' neck, knowing he couldn't take this much longer. His left leg trembled, starting to come in late as he struggled to keep up with even the simple steady inch-up-inch-down of straight flight-- their flow began to stagger dangerously in the sky.

Hiccup swallowed. He and the dragon would plunge straight on through the darkness and right into Valhalla.

He made a pathetic gasp, and in one last desperate struggle, pulled himself up to stand for the last time in the stirrups, wobbling insecurely, his legs shaking violently. Desperately he scanned the sky, praying, searching, hoping...

He collapsed on the dragon's neck.

Nothing.

He missed a beat, throwing off Toothless' rhythm.

Nothing but stars.

They lost a few feet of air, all his fault.

Nothing but stars... except...

"L-look, Bud!" Hiccup croaked, his throat rough from the relentless, dry sky air. "We-- made it! We're back..."

They hadn't made it. In fact, they were quite far off, still. But somehow, that far-off silhouette of that Viking statue with a mouth full of fire, right on the edge of the horizon, spurred on a new second wind in Hiccup, and he secured his hold on the stirrup again in a passionate jerk.

Hiccup's fingers tensed into the scaled neck underneath. "Just a bit more, Bud, just a bit longer."

With a growl of exertion Toothless pressed on to the town of Berk, hoping that he would reach it in time. His fears slowly grew as he felt his rider slowly loosing his grip, the movements on his fake-tail slowing to a point where he was struggling to stay airborne.

Come on Hiccup, he thought, you can do it... please...

They had almost reached land now, yet it didn't seem like the Viking was going to have the strength to hold out all the way. Toothless looked back with concern, seeing Hiccup slump in the saddle, his weakened body slowly slipping away. He really must have been hungry. Unable to sustain flight anymore, Toothless used his front wings to glide down slowly towards the first patch of land he could see nearby. It didn't matter that they were more than a mile out from Berk, he just needed to get them both down safely, and then quickly find some food.

Soaring down towards the sandy beach, Toothless managed to land much more comfortably than he had on the previous island, allowing his body to take a few sauntering steps before coming to a stop. Looking over his shoulder his gripped Hiccup's limp body with his teeth and slowly lifted him off his back, setting him down against one of the rocks on the shoreline. With an apologetic look he ran back towards the water, diving in headfirst and taking off in search of a few fish.

Hiccup looked around groggily, unsure exactly what was happening in his hunger-addled state, but he knew enough to know that Toothless had disappeared. The dragon was out-of-sight for almost five minutes, enough time to have the starving young Viking quite worried indeed. Yet, soon enough the large black body emerged from the waves, landing next to Hiccup with a loud thump. The human looked at him weakly, and Toothless brought his head down to him, looking into his eyes.

Drawing his chest in, Toothless opened his mouth and deposited one slimy fish into the young man's lap, a pleased expression on his face. Inside his belly were dozens more, wriggling about as they faced the same fate Hiccup had shortly before, but this time they would not be escaping.

Hiccup's last memory was heavy, soft sand.

He had been heavily dropped onto the ground, and his limbs had just all shut off completely. He was limp, and every finger and toe felt so heavy, he couldn't even shift. His muscles ached from flying, his knees and ribs throbbing hypnotically-- the red pain was all he could focus on, even though he saw shapes moving around in the dark around him and detect shifting heat.

Everything stopped moving, and he just let himself dissolve into the sand, unable to tell what was seashore and what was him. All he was was hunger and ache and numb, and his eyes refused to focus on anything long enough for him to comprehend it anymore. So he shut them.

He wasn't sure why he kept wanting to leave his body lately. Being alive could be more trouble than it was worth, but he was amazed at how close to escaping it had been today. It was frightening, really.

The next sensation he was aware of was an ache at the back of his throat. He realized that twist in his gut was his empty stomach twisting. Still hungry, still alive. He wheezed, slowly becoming aware of a small, warm wet heaviness draped over his stomach, and a sharp, fishy smell...

Hiccup's heart jolted-- it was a tongue, a mouth wrapped around, Toothless-- he stiffened, trying to sit, and his body nearly collapsed, his body nearly too weak to handle that sudden shock. Turning his head aside, he flopped his arms around his head protectively and wheezed, his ribs terrorizing his chest as he attempted a few dry, silent, breathy sobs, his heart vibrating horribly. He didn't want to be eaten. Not again.

His eyes snapped open on a glint of silver.

A fish. A little, silver fish.

Hiccup shut his eyes again. They were home.

He felt wonderful. It took a long time for it to fully sink in, to enliven his limbs and give him strength. He breathed. Slowly he smiled.

Finally, he summoned the gusto to move. He flashed a rather sheepish look of approval at the intently-watching beast, and ravenously, SO glad there was no one else around to watch, he filleted what he could of the little fish in three or four hasty, awkward strokes of his knife, and ate it up stomach-sour and raw, fresh and flavorful and straight from the sea. It almost seemed like the best thing he'd ever eaten, on his starving tongue.

He lay back, dumping the bones and fins into the sand, and sighed. It wasn't much, but he could practically feel the strength encircling his middle now, warming and stirring and entering his blood. He knew now that he would recover and be as good as new. He was a Viking, after all.

But it would take sleep. Lots of sleep.

He looked up at the dragon with smiling, tired eyes. "We made it, Bud. We made it."

Then he melted into the sand again.

The blackness was so soothing. Hiccup was out so far he wasn't aware of anything beyond his fingertips, but it seemed like the big black shape had come close, engulfing him.

At first it was a pleasant blackness. Smooth calf-leather, stitched together with spider's silk.

Then Hiccup found he couldn't escape it, never escape it. It tossed him, turned him, crushed him, devoured him, pulled him apart and violated his bleached-white bones, gurgling and splashing as it overtook his flesh and he couldn't wake up to relieve it. He was trapped.

Locked in a terrible nightmare, unable to forget, Hiccup writhed on the beach, flinging sand. It was a hell locked inside his own head.

And he would visit again. The rock in the desert sea had vanished, and he would never see it again, but every night, every time he was enveloped in darkness and he could hear the ocean waves gushing up against the rocks like a dragon's satisfied sighs, he was there again. And he could never escape it.

---

This was an RP between myself and the wonderful artist/writer Crownflame. Be sure to check out her stuff :)